•• 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH 

A  Guide  to  the  Rules  of  Composition 


BY 
JOHN  ERSKINE,   Ph.  D. 

Associate  Professor  of  English 
in  Columbia  University 

AND 
HELEN    ERSKINE,  A.   M. 


NEW   YORK 

THE    CENTURY  CO. 

1911 


Copyright,  1910,  by 
The  Century  Co. 


Published,  October, 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I.    SPELLING 3 

Syllabification  ......  6 

Capitals .  7 

Abbreviations 9 

II.     DICTION 11 

General  Offences  against  Good  Usage  12 

Special  Questions  of  Good  Usage        .  13 

Figures  of  Speech    .        .        .        .        .  14 

III.  GRAMMATICAL  TERMS          .    .    .       .        .  15 

IV.  THE  SENTENCE 26 

Matters  of  Punctuation          ...  26 

The  Arrangement  of  the  Thought      .  27 

Matters  of  Grammar      ....  29 

V.     PUNCTUATION 32 

VI.     THE  PARAGRAPH 37 

VII.     ARRANGEMENT     AND     CORRECTION      OF 

MANUSCRIPT 41 

Proof-readers'  Signs        .        .        .        .41 

Theme-readers'  Signs      .        .        .        .  43 

VIII.     LETTERS 44 

Business  and  Friendly  Letters     .        .  44 

Formal  Invitations  and  Replies  .       .  48 

IX.     PROSODY 60 

X.    COMMON  ERRORS  ......  55 

INDEX      .  67 


266953 


PREFACE 

THIS  little  book  pretends  to  be  in  no  sense  a  text- 
book of  grammar  or  rhetoric.  It  tries  to  give  as 
briefly  as  possible  such  hints  and  reminders  as  all 
but  the  most  experienced  writers  are  sometimes 
glad  to  have.  We  have  sought,  not  to  treat  the 
subject  exhaustively,  but  on  the  contrary  to  omit 
all  but  the  matters  that  in  practice  prove  trouble- 
some. A  certain  mass  of  errors,  due  to  carelessness 
as  much  as  anything  else,  appear  in  the  writing 
of  every  Freshman  class;  and  we  have  assumed 
that  those  same  errors  probably  trouble  the  aver- 
age graduate  of  the  High  Schools,  whether  he  is  a 
college  student  or  not.  We  hope  to  give  here  the 
rules  that  cover  these  errors,  and  such  other  hints 
as  may  smooth  the  path  of  the  average  writer. 

For  a  complete  study  of  rhetorical  principles  we 
refer  the  student  to  any  of  the  innumerable  stand- 
ard text-books,  of  which  Professor  J.  F.  Genung's 
"  Working  Principles  of  Rhetoric  "  is  perhaps  the 
most  exhaustive,  and  Professor  G.  R.  Carpenter's 
"  English  Composition  "  and  Professor  C.  S.  Bald- 
win's "  Composition,  Oral  and  Written  "  are  the 
most  directly  practical.  For  a  most  sensible  account 
of  English  grammar  we  refer  the  student  to  Profes- 
sor George  P.  Krapp's  "  An  Elementary  English 
Grammar."  For  the  proof-readers'  signs,  and  for 
much  besides,  we  are  indebted  to  Theodore  L.  De 
Vinne's  "The  Practice  of  Typography,  Correct 
Composition." 

J.  E. 
H.  E. 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH 


WRITTEN  ENGLISH 

A  Guide  to  the  Rules  of  Composition 


SPELLING 

THE  principles  of  English  spelling  are  so  complicated 
and  so  unrelated  to  each  other,  that  they  are  hardly  to  be 
considered  principles  in  a  scientific  sense.  It  is  still  de- 
sirable that  writers  should  learn  to  spell  by  sheer  dint  of 
memory.  A  few  rules  of  thumb,  however,  are  helpful 
in  the  correction  of  ordinary  errors. 

1.  Final  e,  called  the  silent  e,  is  often  used  after  a  single 
consonant  to  show  that  a  preceding  vowel  should  be  pro- 
nounced long.    In  cane,  the  final  e  gives  the  pronunciation 
which  distinguishes  the  word  from  can.    This  rule  applies 
only  to  words  in  which  the  final  syllable  has  the  accent. 
In  such  words,  if  there  is  no  final  e,  a  single  vowel  before  a 
final  consonant  is  usually  pronounced  short. 

sin,  sine  mat,  mate 

tun,  tune  transfer,  interfere 

2.  In  order  to  preserve  the  vowel  sound,  final  e  is  usually 
retained   before    suffixes   beginning   with    a   consonant; 
it  is  dropped,  as  unnecessary,  before  suffixes  beginning 
with  a  vowel. 

tune,  tuneful,  tuning          lie,  lying 
ripe,  ripeness 

When  the  e  is  omitted  from  lie,  we  have  li-ing.    In  all 
such  cases  the  first  i  is  changed  to  y- 

3 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH 


3.  A  single  vowel  before  a  double  consonant  remains 
short,  no  matter  what  suffix  is  added. 

pull,  pulling  press,  pressing 

4.  When  a  final  consonant  is  preceded  by  a  single 
vowel,  in  a  final  syllable  which  has  the  accent,  the  final 
consonant  is  doubled  before  a  suffix  beginning  with  a 
vowel;  otherwise  the  vowel  of  the  final  syllable  would  be 
lengthened  by  the  suffix. 

run,  running  wag,  wagged 

sad,  sadder,  saddest          prefer,  preferring 

5.  In  some  languages,   notably  Italian,  c  and  g  are 
pronounced  soft  before  e  or  i;    otherwise    they  are  pro- 
nounced hard.   Though  there  is  no  such  rule  in  English  — 
as  begin  shows  —  yet  there  is  a  tendency  in  that  direction, 
which  often  accounts  for  a  silent  e  which  indicates  no 
lengthened  vowel. 

practice  practicable 

notice  noticeable 

privilege  religious 

6.  The  diphthongs  ie  and  ei  are  very  troublesome,  in 
all  such  words  as  believe  and  receive.     The  best  rule  of 
thumb  is  the  old  one,  —  that  of  the  two  vowels  the  one 
follows  the  consonant  which  is  nearest  to  that  consonant 
in  the  alphabet,  counting  either  way.     /  is  nearer  to  I 
than  e  is;   therefore  believe.    E  is  nearer  to  c  than  i  is; 
therefore   receive.     Exceptions    are  field,    seize,   neither, 
leisure,  weird,  financier. 

7.  Practically  all  suffixes,  like  ness  and  ly,  are  added 
to  words  without  any  change  in  the  original  spelling. 
Some  writers  have  a  tendency  to  economize  a  final  con- 
sonant, when  it  is  repeated  in  the  suffix. 

greenness,  not  greeness 
meanness,  not  meaness 
beautifully,  not 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH 


8.  Practically  all  prefixes,  like  mis  or  dis,  are  placed 
before  words  without  any  change  in  the  original  spelling. 

dissatisfaction,  not  disatis  faction 
mistake,  not  misstake 

9.  Final  y,  preceded  by  a  consonant,  is  changed  to  i 
before  a  suffix ;  in  the  plural  of  nouns  or  the  present  singu- 
lar of  verbs,  it  is  changed  to  ies. 

mercy,  merciful  lady,  ladies 

steady,  steadied  hurry,  hurries 

There  are  some  exceptions,  as  shy,  shyness;  sly,  slyness. 

10.  Final  y,  preceded  by  a  vowel,  remains  unchanged. 

play,  playing ;  valley,  valleys 

11.  A  few  nouns  in  o  form  their  plural  by  adding  es. 

echoes  negroes 

cargoes  tomatoes 

embargoes  mosquitoes 

potatoes  heroes 

volcanoes  buffaloes 

12.  Many  nouns  ending  in  /  or  fe  change  /  to  v  before 
adding  the  endings  es  or  s  to  form  their  plurals. 

wife,  wives;     knife,  knives;     loaf,  loaves. 

13.  A  few  nouns  forming  their  plural  irregularly  add  en 
to  the  singular. 

ox,  oxen;   brother,  brethren  (or  brothers)  ; 
child,  children. 

14-   A  few  nouns  form  their  plural  not  by  adding  a  ter- 
mination, but  by  a  change  of  vowel  in  the  word. 

man,  men;   woman,  women;   foot,  feet; 
tooth,  teeth;   mouse,  mice;   goose,  geese. 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH 


SYLLABIFICATION. 

There  are  several  reputable  methods  of  dividing  words 
at  the  end  of  a  line.  When  the  writer  is  in  doubt  about  a 
particular  word,  he  should  consult  a  dictionary  —  though 
the  dictionaries  disagree  in  syllabification  as  well  as  in 
spelling.  The  accepted  rules  of  syllabification  are: 

15.  Words  are  divided  between  syllables. 
aoun-dance;    depen-dent. 

16.  Monosyllabic  words  are  never  divided. 
through,  not  throu-gh. 

17.  Some  words  of  two  syllables,  pronounced  almost  as 
one,  are  not  divided. 

power;   heaven;   given;   soften. 

18.  The  participle  endings,  -ed  and  -ingt  may  be  sepa- 
rated from  the  rest  of  the  verb.    Good  printers,  however, 
avoid  this  division. 

19.  Unpronounceable  divisions  are  always  wrong. 
dis-charge}  not  disc-harge. 

ex-change,  not  exch-ange. 

20-  Words  may  usually  be  divided  after  a  prefix  or 
before  a  suffix. 

mis-taken;  sweet-ness. 

21.  Where  a  letter  has  been  doubled,  the  word  may 
usually  be  divided. 

stop-ping ;    ac-cident. 

22.  No  division  is  permissible  that  ends  or  begins  a 
line  with  a  syllable  of  one  letter. 

emerge,  not  c-merge. 
very,  not  ver-y. 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH 


CAPITALS. 

23.  The  first  word  of  a  sentence,  of  a  line  of  poetry,  or 
of  a  direct  quotation,  requires  a  capital  letter. 

24.  Proper  nouns  and  adjectives,  or  abbreviations  of 
either,  begin  with  a  capital  letter.    This  includes  names 
of  streets,  days,  months,  holidays,  races,  sects,  political 
parties,  nations,  sections  of  the  country,  and  great  histori- 
cal events;  negro  and  gipsy  are  exceptions  to  this  rule. 

25-  The  names  of  the  seasons  do  not  begin  with  capi- 
tals unless  they  are  personified,  but  it  should  be  noted 
that  there  is  a  growing  tendency  in  favor  of  always  writing 
these  words  with  capitals. 

It  was  a  beautiful  spring  day. 

"  Come,  gentle  Spring !    ethereal   Mildness  !    come." 

26.  Personified  nouns  require  capitals. 

"  Pair  Science  frowned   not  on  his   humble  birth, 
And  Melancholy  marked  him  for  her  own." 

27.  The  names  of  the  points  of  the  compass  when  used 
to  specify  direction  only  are  not   capitalized,  but  when 
they  designate  geographical  sections,  as  the  South,  the 
West,  they  should  begin  with  a  capital.    There  is  a  strong 
tendency,  however,  as  with  the  names  of  the  seasons,  to 
capitalize  all  uses  of  these  names. 

28.  Names  and  titles  of  the  Deity,  and  personal  pro- 
nouns referring  to  Him,  begin  with  capitals. 

29.  The  pronoun  /  and  the  interjection  0  are  always 
capitalized. 

30.  A  personal  title  which  immediately  precedes  the 
name  of  a  person  begins  with  a  capital. 

General    U.    S.    Grant.  President    McKinley. 


8  WRITTEN   ENGLISH 

31.  When  the  title  of  an  official  follows  his  name,  the 
first  word  of  that  title  is  not  necessarily  capitalized. 

Elihu  Root,  senator  from  New  York. 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  ex-president  of  the  United  States. 

32.  When  only  the  title  is  used,  preceded   by  the,  de- 
noting only  one  person,  or  when  the  title  is  used  as  the 
synonym  of  one  person,  this  title  should  be  capitalized. 

He  had  an  interview  with  the  President. 
How  are  you,  Colonel t 

33.  In  compound  titles,  only  the  first  word  need  be 
written  with  a  capital. 

Vice-president  Sherman. 
Chief-justice  Fuller. 

34.  Abbreviated  titles  of  honor  or  respect  which  im- 
mediately follow  a  name  should  have  capitals. 

George  Brown,  Esq. 
Frederick  Houghton,  LL.  D. 

35.  The  titles  of  books,  magazines,  newspapers,  plays, 
etc.,  should  always  begin  with  a  capital  letter,  and  every 
important  word  of  the  title  is  usually  capitalized. 

Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Economics. 
Sweet's  Primer  of  Spoken  English. 

36.  Recently  some  writers  have  adopted  the  method 
of  using  capital  letters  only  for  the  first  word  and  for 
proper  nouns  and  adjectives  in  the  title. 

Lives  of  the  hunted. 

Taylor's  Classical  heritage  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

37.  It  should  be  noted  that  when  the  title  of  a  book 
is  given  exactly  in  the  text,  the  definite  article  the  at 
the  beginning  must  be  capitalized. 

This  is  a  new  edition  of  The  Works  of  Chaucer. 

3a     In  citing  the  name  of  a  newspaper  or  periodical  in 
the  text,  however,  the  article  the  should  not  have  a  capital. 
This  poem  was  published  in  the  Century. 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH 


ABBREVIATIONS. 

39.  Care  should  be  taken  to  avoid  the  abuse  of  abbre- 
viations, which  is  usually   considered   an  indication  of 
carelessness,  or  lack  of  training  in  the  writer.    It  is  gen- 
erally preferable  to  write  out  in  full  a  word  or  phrase, 
but  there  are  some  words  or  phrases  which  are  custom- 
arily abbreviated.    A  partial  list  of  these   is  given  below, 
but  the  more  ordinary  English  abbreviations,  like  Mr., 
Mrs.,  Dr.,  have  been  omitted. 

A.  D.  (Latin,  anno  domini),  in  the  year  of  our  Lord. 
aet.   (Latin,  aetatis),  of  age,  aged. 

a.m.   (Latin,  ante  meridiem),  before  noon. 

B.  C.,  before  Christ. 

cf.   (Latin,  confer),  compare. 

D.  V.   (Latin,  deo  volente),  God  willing. 

e.g.   (Latin,  exempli  gratia),  for  example. 

etc.    (Latin,  et  cetera),  and  so  forth. 

ib.  or  ibid.   (Latin,  ibidem),  in  the  same  place;    a  term 

used  in   footnotes  to   refer  to  a  book  or  article  just 

mentioned. 

i.e.   (Latin,  id  est),  that  is. 

inst.  (Latin,  instante  mense),  the  present  month. 
M.  (Latin,  meridies),  noon. 

Mgr.   (French,  Monseigneur),  an  ecclesiastical  title. 
MS.,  manuscript. 
MSS.,  manuscripts. 
N.  B.  (Latin,  nota  bene),  mark  well, 
p.m.   (Latin,  post  meridiem),  after  noon. 
P.  P.  C.   (French,  pour  prendre  conge),  to  take  leave, 
pro  tern.   (Latin,  pro  tempore),  for  the  time  being, 
prox.   (Latin,  proximo  mense),  next  month. 
Q.  E.  D.    (Latin,  quod  erat  demonstrandum),  which  was 

to  be  proved. 

q.  v.  (Latin,  quod  vide),  which  see;   that  is,  refer  to  that, 
ult.  (Latin,  ultimo  mense),  last  month, 
vid.   (Latin,  vide),  see. 
viz.  (Latin,  videlicet),  to  wit,  namely. 

40.  An  abbreviation  must  always  be  followed  by  a 
period. 


10  WRITTEN   ENGLISH 

41.  The  double  letter  shows  that  the  word  is  in  the 
plural,  as  MS.,  MSS. 

42.  The   abbreviation   Co.,   as  in   The  Century   Co., 
when  it  is  the  company's  approved  form  of  imprint  and 
signature,  must  not  be  written  Company. 


II 

DICTION 

THE  choice  of  words  depends  somewhat  upon  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  they  are  to  be  used.  In  familiar 
speech  our  verbal  deportment  is  often  careless,  and  even 
when  we  rise  to  the  best  manner  we  are  capable  of,  our 
spoken  word  is  almost  never  so  dignified  nor  so  accurate 
as  our  written  speech.  And  for  different  occasions  of 
spoken  or  written  speech,  we  instinctively  use  a  different 
part  of  our  vocabulary. 

43.  Good  usage  is  the  choice  and  use  of  words  accord- 
ing to  the  best  authorities  —  that  is,  according  to  the 
habit  of  a  majority  of  the  best  speakers  and  writers  of  any 
language.    The  readiest  way  to  find  out  whether  a  word 
is  in  good  usage  is  to  look  it  up  in  a  reputable  dictionary, 
where  usage  is  recorded,  not  made.    The  dictionaries  are  of 
course  not  infallible,  nor  do  they  always  agree,  nor  are  they 
ever  quite  up  to  date;    but  for  practical  purposes  the 
average  writer  can  keep  his  diction  in  good  order  by  con- 
stant reference  to  The  Century  Dictionary,  The  Standard 
Dictionary,    Webster's    Dictionary,    or  —  for    English    as 
opposed  to  American  usage  —  Stormonth's. 

44.  Colloquial  usage  —  the  use  of  words  or  meanings 
that  have  a  vulgar  currency  in  speech,  but  are  not  recog- 
nized by  the  more  dignified  standards  of  written  compo- 
sition —  is  the  most  frequent  departure  from  good  usage 
and  the  hardest  to  correct ;  for  the  frequency  with  which 
we  hear  colloquial  words  and  phrases  blunts  our  sense 
of  their  vulgarity,  and  they  slip  into  our  speech  unnoticed. 
All  expressions  which  have  a  local,  or  provincial,  or  vulgar, 
or  generally  untidy  air,  may  be  safely  avoided. 

11 


12  WRITTEN    ENGLISH 

45.  Slang  is  that  kind  of  colloquial  usage  which  crys- 
tallizes into  formulas,  often  imaginative  and  vigorous, 
always  vulgar.  The  word  or  phrase  itself  may  have  been 
or  may  be  in  good  usage,  just  as  a  word  once  slang  may 
be  rescued  to  better  things;  but  while  it  is  a  vulgar  for- 
mula, an  habitual  substitute  for  exact  expression,  the  effect 
of  its  monotony  is  to  dull  the  mind  of  him  who  uses  and 
him  who  hears  it.  The  surface  objection  to  slang  is  the 
vulgarity  it  suggests.  The  deeper  objection  is  that  the 
speaker  is  too  lazy  or  too  stupid  to  find  the  exact  word  for 
his  idea;  therefore  he  uses  a  formula  —  which  is  a  substi- 
tute for  thought.  When  a  boy  says  of  a  girl,  "  She's  a 
peach/'  he  is  using  a  perfectly  good  word;  and  if  we  had 
not  heard  the  formula  before,  we  should  think  it  original 
and  striking,  if  a  bit  cannibalistic.  But  when  we  know 
that  the  same  word  may  be  diverted  to  the  praise  of  a 
cigar  or  a  hair  cut,  we  understand  that  the  boy  has  ex- 
pressed himself,  more  than  he  has  expressed  his  thought. 

GENERAL  OFFENCES  AGAINST  GOOD  USAGE. 

46.  A  Barbarism  is  the  use  of  an  expression  which  is 
foreign  to  a  language.  Some  authorities  use  the  term  only 
of  errors  in  inflection,  as  hisn  or  hern  for  his  or  hers.  In  a 
wider  sense,  any  mixture  of  foreign  words  or  phrases 
is  a  barbarism ;  the  common  habit  of  injecting  into  con- 
versation French  words,  such  as  menage,  eclat,  is  to  be 
regarded  as  a  barbarism. 

47.  An  Impropriety  is  the  use  of  a  proper  word  in  an 
incorrect  sense.  Among  the  most  frequent  improprieties 

are : 

lay,  for  lie  (see  ^f  320). 

exceptionable,  for  exceptional  (see  ^[300). 

apt,  for  likely  or  liable  (see  ^f  321). 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH  13 

48.     A  Solecism  is  the  use  of  a  proper  expression  in  an 
incorrect  grammatical  construction. 
/  done  it,  for  /  did  it. 

He  spoke  to  you  and  she,  for  He  spoke  to  you  and  her 
(see  ^[  359). 


SPECIAL  QUESTIONS  OF  GOOD  USAGE. 

49.  Trite  expressions  should  be  avoided.      If  the  reader 
or  hearer  can   anticipate   your    words,  you  cannot  hold 
his  attention.      Therefore,  avoid  all  phrases  that  have 
become  formulas,  such  as : 

the  surrounding  country, 
last  but  not  least, 
along  these  lines, 
method  in  his  madness, 
doomed  to  disappointment. 

Although  trite  expressions  are  not  necessarily  vulgar, 
they  are  open,  like  slang,  to  the  objection  that  the  use  of 
formulas  stultifies  the  brain. 

50.  The  pronoun  they  should  not  be  used  indefinitely. 
The  English  idiom  for  general  statements  is  you;    some 
people  consider  it  a  special  sign  of  refinement  to  use  one, 
following  the  French  idiom.    Either  expression  is  correct. 

"  Than  are  dreamt  of  in  your  philosophy." 

You  never  see  that  kind  of  man  in  these  days. 
One  never  sees  that  kind  of  man  in  these  days. 

51.  Of  those  who  prefer  to  use  one,  some  writers  make 
a  point  of  repeating  the  word,  instead  of  referring  to  it 
by  he  or  she;  their  theory  is  that  one  should  not  seem  to 
indicate  gender.    They  would  say: 

One   can   always   succeed,    if   one    (not   he)    tries   hard 
enough. 


14  WRITTEN   ENGLISH 

FIGURES  OF  SPEECH. 

Only  two  figures  of  speech  are  in  common  use,  Simile 
and  Metaphor. 

52.  Simile.     That  figure  by  which  one  thing  is  said 
to  be  like  another. 

"  Thou  art  as  long,  and  lank,  and  brown 

As  is  the  ribbed  sea-sand." 
"  Every  soul  it  passed  me  by 

Like  the  whizz  of  my  cross-bow." 

53.  Metaphor.      That   figure  by  which  one  thing  is 
identified  with   another. 

"  Our  birth  is  but  a  sleep  and  a  forgetting: 
The  Soul  that  rises  in  us,  our  life's  Star, 
Hath  had  elseiohere  its  setting, 
And  cometh  from  afar." 

54.  In  some  uses  of  metaphor  the  identification  is  not 
stated,  but  assumed,  and  the  consequences  of  the  identi- 
fication are  expressed. 

"  I  looked  to  heaven,  and  tried  to  pray ; 

But  or  ever  a  prayer  had  gusht, 
A  wicked  whisper  came,  and  made 
My  heart  as  dry  as  dust." 

In  this  example  the  assumed  metaphor  is  that  the  Mari- 
ner's heart  is  a  channel,  through  which  prayers  flow. 

55.  Mixed  Metaphor,  as   the  term   implies,  is  an  in- 
congruous mixture  of  images.     The  great  masters  have 
sometimes    given    us    unforgetable     mixed     metaphors, 
like  Shakspere's  "  To  take  arms  against  a  sea  of  troubles  "; 
but  the  effect  of  mixed  metaphor  is  usually  ludicrous, 
and  it  should  be  carefully  avoided. 


m 

GRAMMATICAL  TERMS 

56.  Accusative    with   the    infinitive.       After  verbs  of 
wishing,  believing,  and  the  like,  the   infinitive   may  be 
used  with  a  subject  in  the  objective  (accusative)  case, 

I  wished  him  to  be  my  friend. 

57.  Adjective.      A  word   which   limits  or   modifies  a 
noun  or  pronoun. 

"  Small  service  is  true  service  while  it  lasts." 

58.  Adjective  clause.    A  clause  used  as  an  adjective 
to  modify  a  noun  or  pronoun. 

"Those  deep  dark  eyes  where  pride  demurs." 

59.  Adverb.     A  word  which  limits  or  modifies  a  verb, 
an  adjective,  or  another  adverb. 

A  very  good  man. 

60-     Adverbial  clause.     A  clause    used    as   an  adverb 
to  modify  a  verb,  an  adjective,  or  an  adverb. 
"  Poor,  who  had  plenty  once, 
When  gifts  fell  thick  as  rain." 

61.   Apposition.      When  a  noun  or    its   equivalent  is 
placed  next  to  another  noun  in  order  to  explain  it,  the 
two  nouns  are  said  to  be  in  apposition. 
"  Sweetest  Shakespeare,  Fancy's  child." 

62.    Article.      A  kind  of   limiting   adjective.     The  is 
called  the  definite  article ;  a  or  cm,  the  indefinite  article, 

16 


16  WRITTEN   ENGLISH 

63.  Auxiliary  verbs.    Be,  have,  do,  shall,  will,  may,  can, 
must,  and  ought,  with  their  inflectional  forms,  when  used 
with  the  infinitives   and   participles  of  other  verbs,  are 
called  auxiliary  verbs. 

"  In  the  golden  lightning 

Of  the  sunken  sun, 
O'er  which  clouds  are  brightening 
Thou  dost  float  and  run." 

64.  Case.     The  inflectional  form  of    a  noun  or    pro- 
noun.   There  are  three  cases,  nominative,  possessive,  and 
objective.    The  subject  of  a  verb  or  the  predicate  of  the 
verb  to  be  is  put  in  the  nominative  case.    The  object  of  a 
verb,  the  object   of   a  preposition,  or  the  subject  of  an 
infinitive  is  put  in  the  objective  case.    A  noun  or  pronoun 
denoting  possession  is  put  in  the  possessive  case. 

Noininative :    He  spoke  to  me. 
Objective  :    I '  saw  him. 

I   spoke  to  him. 
Possessive :    I  did  not  like  his  words. 

65.  The  possessive  case,  singular,  of  nouns  is  formed 
by  adding  's  to  the  nominative  singular. 

Girl,  girl's. 

66.  The  possessive  plural  is  formed  by  adding  's  to 
the  nominative  plural,  when  the  nominative  plural  does 
not  end  in  s. 

Children,  children's. 

67.  If  the  nominative  plural  ends  in  s,  the  possessive 
is  formed  by  adding  only  the  apostrophe. 

Horses,  horses'. 

68.  Nouns  ending  in  s  or  with  an  s  sound,  as  Hughes, 
conscience,  may  form  their  possessive  singular  in  the  regular 
way  by  adding  's,  or  they  omit  the  s  and  retain  the  apos- 
trophe to  indicate  that  this  is  the  possessive  case.    Usage 


WRITTEN  ENGLISH  17 

differs  greatly  on  this  point,  but  the  best  writers  seem  to 
agree  on  the  following :  — 

69.  Nouns  of   one   syllable  ending  in  s,  and  nouns  of 
two  or  more  syllables,  ending  in  s,  accented  on  the  last 
syllable,  form  their  possessive  singular  in  the  usual  way, 
by  adding  's. 

Keats' s  poems,  Jones's  book,  the  defense's  argument. 

70.  Nouns  of  two  or  more  syllables,  not  accented  on 
the  last,  may  either  form  their  possessive  singular  in  the 
usual  way,  by  adding  's,  or  may  omit  any  special  ending, 
except  an  apostrophe  to  indicate  the  possessive  case. 

Dickens's  novels,  or  Dickens'  novels. 

For  conscience's  sake,  or  for  conscience'  sake. 

71.  In  compound  nouns,  in  groups  of  words,  or  when 
a  title  is  added  to  another    noun,  only   the  last  noun 
is  given  the  sign  ('s)  of  the  possessive  case. 

His  son-in-law's  house. 

The  Czar  of  Russia's  palace. 

Mr.  Brown,  the  lawyer's,  horse. 

72.  Clause.     A  group  of  words  forming  part  of  a  sen- 
tence, and  containing  a  subject  and  a  predicate.     When 
a  clause  taken  by  itself  makes  a  complete  statement,  it 
is  called  an  independent  clause. 

If  I  were  you,  /  should  stay. 

73.  When  a  clause  depends  for  its  complete  sense  on 
some  other  clause,  it  is  called  a  dependent  or  subordinate 
clause. 

If  I  were  you,  I  should  stay. 

74.  When  two  or  more  independent  clauses  are  in  the 
same  sentence,  they  are  said  to  be  co-ordinate  clauses. 

I  wished  to  stay,  but  /  had  another  engagement. 


18  WRITTEN   ENGLISH 

75.  Comparison.     When   an  adjective,  or  an  adverb, 
simply  attributes  a  quality  or  manner,  it  is  in  the  positive 
degree.     When  an  adjective  or  an  adverb  attributes  a 
quality  or  manner  with  reference  to  some  standard,  it 
is  in  the  comparative  degree.     When  an  adjective  or  an 
adverb  attributes  a  quality  in  the  highest  degree,  it  is  in 
the  superlative  degree.    See  Inflection. 

Positive  :    The  early  bird  catches  the  worm. 
Comparative  :    The  later  worms  fare  better. 
Superlative :     Whether   you   should  get   up  first   or   last 
depends  upon  your  biological  status  in  society. 

76.  Complex  sentence.     One  which  contains    a    sub- 
ordinate clause.     (See  example,  If  73.) 

"If  Winter  comes,  can  Spring  be  far  behind?" 

77.  Compound  sentence.     One  which  contains  two  or 
more  independent  clauses,  with  no  subordinate  clause. 

"  Noon  descends,  and  after  noon 
Autumn's  evening  meets  me  soon." 

78.  Conjunction.      A    word    which    connects    words, 
phrases,  clauses,  or  sentences. 

"  He  went  like  one  that  hath  been  stunned, 

And  is  of  sense  forlorn  ; 
A  sadder  and  a  wiser  man." 

79.  Co-ordinate.      Words,  phrases,  and  clauses  in  the 
same  construction  in  any  sentence  are  co-ordinate. 

1  80.  Copula.  A  verb  which  expresses  relation  between 
the  subject  and  the  predicate,  usually  the  verb  to  be  or 
any  of  its  forms. 

"  The  World  is  too  much  with  us.*' 

81.     Correlative     conjunctions.     Certain    conjunctions 
used  in  pairs  to  connect  correlated  words,  phrases,  or 

clauses. 

not  only  .  .  .  but  also      either  ...  or 
both  .  .  .  and  neither  .  .  .  nor 

whether  ,  .  .  or 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH  19 

82.  Both  conjunctions  in  any  pair  must  be  followed 
by  the  same  part  of  speech. 

I  spoke  to   both   Smith  and  Jones    (not,  both  to  Smith 
and  Jones). 

83.  Demonstrative     adjectives.         This,    these,    that, 
those. 

Give  me  that  book. 

The  same  words  used  as  pronouns  are  called  demonstrative 
pronouns. 

Don't  say  that  again. 

84.  Gender.       Distinction    according    to  sex.     There 
are  three  genders,  masculine,  feminine,  and  neuter. 

85.  Nouns   or   pronouns    naming   or   denoting   male 
beings  are  of  the  masculine  gender. 

Han,,  boy,  'butler,  father,  he,  his. 

86-     Nouns  or  pronouns    naming  or  denoting  female 
beings  are  of  the  feminine  gender. 

Woman,  mother,  hostess,  nun,  Tier,  hers. 

87.  Nouns  or  pronouns  naming  or  denoting  objects  or 
ideas  without  sex  are  of  the  neuter  gender. 

Town,  day,  table,  book,  it,  its. 

88.  Nouns  which  may  be  either  masculine  or  feminine 
are  sometimes  considered  of  common  gender. 

Friend,  doctor,  companion,  child. 

89.  English  nouns  are  not  inflected  to  show  gender, 
but  a  pronoun  must  be  of  the  same  gender  as  the  noun  for 
which  it  stands  or  to  which  it  refers. 

90.  Gerund.     A  verb-form  in  ing  having  some  of  the 
quality  of  an  infinitive,  and  like  an  infinitive,  treated  as 
a  verbal  noun. 

Good  for  eating. 


20  WRITTEN   ENGLISH 

91.  Indefinite     pronouns.     The     most     important   of 
these  are  ally  another,  any,  anybody,  anything,  aught,  both, 
each,  either,  everybody,  everything,  few,  many,  most,  naught, 
neither,  nobody ,  none,  nothing,  one,  other,  some,  somebody, 
something,  somewhat,  such. 

92.  Infinitive.     That  form  of  the  verb  which  expresses 
action  or  state  without  regard  to  person  or  number.     It 
is  commonly  preceded  by  the  preposition  to,  which  in  this 
use  is  called  the  Sign  of  the  Infinitive.     This  is  omitted 
after  auxiliary  verbs,  and  is  used  optionally  after  certain 
verbs  like  dare,  help,  need,  please,  and  go.    The  gerund 
(If  90)  is  sometimes  regarded  as  an  infinitive. 

I  shall  go. 

I  wish  to  go. 

I  need  to  go;   you  need  not  go. 

93.  When  a  modifying  adverb  is  inserted  between  the 
Infinitive  Sign  and  the  rest  of  the  infinitive,  the  resulting 
phrase  is  called  a  Split  Infinitive.    Conservative  authori- 
ties object  to  this  usage. 

To  answer  immediately  (not  to  immediately  answer)   is 
impossible. 

94.  Inflection.     The  change  in    the    form  of  a  word 
to  show  a  difference  in  its  meaning.     The  inflection  of 
nouns  and  pronouns  is  called  declension;    the  inflection 
of  adjectives  and  adverbs,  comparison;   the  inflection  of 
verbs,  conjugation. 

95.  Interjection.    A  word  thrown  in  to  express    emo- 
tion;   an  exclamation. 

Hark!    now  I  hear  them. 
Ding,  dong,  bell. 

96.  Interrogative     pronouns.     Those    pronouns,    like 
who,  which,  what,  when  used  to  ask  a  question,  are  inter- 
rogative pronouns. 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH  21 

97.  Mood.    The  way  in  which  a  verb  makes  an  asser- 
tion.   The  indicative  mood  makes  the  assertion  as  a  fact; 
the  subjunctive  mood  makes  the  assertion  conditionally; 
and  the  imperative  mood  expresses  a  command  or  entreaty. 

Indicative :    I  came  yesterday. 

Subjunctive :    If  I  were  there,  I  should  help  you. 

Imperative  ;    Go  at  once. 

98.  In  careless  speech  the  subjunctive  is  not  distin- 
guished  from   the    indicative.      Some    scholarly   writers 
even  claim  that  it  is  pedantic  to  use  the  subjunctive  at 
all.    But  it  expresses  what  cannot  be  expressed  in  another 
way.    Its  fthigj  IISR  is  in  thft  expression  of  present  condition 
contrary  to  fact. 

If  Brown  were  there,  he  would  etc.,  but  he  is  not  there. 

The  indicative  in  such  a  place  would  give  another  meaning. 
If  Brown  was  there,  he  must  have  etc. 

Here  the  question  is  raised  whether  Brown  was  there,  with 
no  implication  as  to  whether  he  was  or  not. 

99.  Nominative    absolute.     When  a  noun  or  pronoun 
in  the  nominative  case  is  followed  by  a  participle  in  agree- 
ment with  it,  and  is  the  subject  of  no  other  verb,  the 
construction  is  called  the  nominative  absolute. 

The   doctor   being   out,   the   servant   went   in   search   of 
other  assistance. 

10Q.    Noun.     The  name  of  a  person,  place,  or  thing.    A 
proper  noun  is  a  name  of  an  individual  person,  place,  or 
thing,  as  distinguished  from  others  of  the  same  class. 
George  "Washington,  Boston,  England. 

101.  A  common  noun  is  the  name  of  any  one  of  a  class. 
Horse,  wagon. 

102.  A  collective  noun  is  the  name  of  a  class  or  group. 
The  poor,  the  rich. 


22  WRITTEN   ENGLISH 

103.  Number.    That  inflectional  form  of  nouns,  and 
pronouns,  and  verbs  which  indicates  whether  one  person 
or  thing  is  designated,  or  more  than  one. 

Singular  :   He  runs.  House. 

Plural :    They  run.  Houses. 

For  irregular  formation  of  plural  of  nouns,  see  If  11-14. 

104.  Object.     The  noun,  pronoun,  or  phrase  denoting 
the  object  directly  affected  by  the  action  of  the  verb  is 
called  the  direct  object. 

I  saw  him. 

105.  The  noun,  pronoun,  or  phrase  denoting  an  object 
less  affected  by  the  action  of  the  verb  than  the  direct 
object,  is  called  the  indirect  object.    The  indirect  object  is 
often  indicated  by  to  or  for. 

You  gave  me  this  book. 
I  will  return  it  to  you. 

106.  Part  of  speech.     One  of  the    eight   classes  into 
which  words  are  divided:  noun,  pronoun,  verb,  adjective, 
adverb,  conjunction,  preposition,  and  interjection. 

107.  Participle.     The  verb-form  in  ing  or  ed  when  used 
as  an  adjective.    These  two  forms  are  called  respectively 
the  present  and  past  participle. 

Laughing  in  spite  of  himself,  he  replied. 
At  that  minute  he  had  entered  the  room. 

I 

108.  Personal  pronouns.      When  a  speaker  or  writer 
speaks  of  himself,  he  uses  the  pronouns  of  the  first  person. 

SINGULAR.  PLURAL. 

Nominative :    /  we 

Possessive  :    my,  mine       our,  ours 
Objective :    me  us 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH  23 

109.  When    the    speaker    addresses    another    person 
directly,  he  uses  the  pronouns  of  the  second  person. 

SINGULAR.  PLURAL. 

Nominative  :    you,  thou  you,  ye 

Possessive :  your,  yours,  thy,  thine     your,  yours 
Objective  :    you,  thee  you,  ye. 

Thou,  ye,  thy,  thine,  and  thee  are  poetical  forms. 

110.  Wlien  the  speaker  refers  to  a  person  or  thing 
not  directly  addressed,  he  uses  the  pronouns  of  the  third 
person. 

SINGULAR.  PLURAL. 

Nominative  :    he,  she,  it  they 

Possessive :    his,  her,  hers,  its       their,  theirs 
Objective  :    him,  her,  it  them 

111.  Phrase.     A  group  of  words  which  are  part  of  a 
sentence,  but  which  do  not  contain  a  subject  or  a  predi- 
cate. 

112.  A  verb  formed  with  the  help  of  one  or  more  auxil- 
iaries is  called  a  verb-phrase. 

I  was  going. 

113.  A  phrase  used  as  a  preposition  is  called  a  prepo- 
sition phrase. 

In  consideration  of  your  injuries,  willingness,  etc. 

114.  A  phrase  consisting  of  a  preposition  and  its  ob- 
ject is  called  a  prepositional  phrase. 

I  fell  on  my  knees. 

115.  A  phrase  used  as  a  noun,  adjective,  or  adverb 
is  known  as  a  noun  phrase,  adjective  phrase,  or  adverb 
phrase. 

The  very  thought  is  pleasant. 
The  hat  on  the  table  is  mine. 
I  struck  with  all  my  might. 


24  WRITTEN   ENGLISH 

116.  Predicate.    What  is  said  of  the  subject.    A  simple 
predicate  is  the  verb ;  a  complete  predicate  is  the  verb  with 
its  dependent  words. 

Simple  predicate  :    I  told  him  the  news. 
Complete  predicate  :    I  told  Mm  the  news. 

117.  Preposition.      A  word    placed  before  a  noun  or 
pronoun  to  show  its  relation  to  other  words  in  the  sen- 
tence.   The  noun  or  pronoun  before  which  a  preposition 
is  placed  is  called  its  object. 

Explain  this  to  me. 

118.  Principal  parts  of  a  verb  are  the  infinitive,  first 
person  singular  of  the  preterite,  and  the  past  participle. 

Run,  ran,  run. 

Walk,  walked,  walked. 

119.  Pronoun  is  a  word  which  stands  for  a  noun. 
I  met  Smith  and  told  Mm. 

120.  Relative.     Referring    or  relating  to  a  preceding 
word. 

121.  The  relatives   which,  what,  whichever,  whatever, 
when  they  have  the  force  of  adjectives  are  called  relative 


122.  When  a  relative  has  the  force  of  an  adverb,  it  is 
called  a  relative  adverb.    The  most  important  are:   after, 
as,  before,  how,  since,  till,  until,  when,  whenever,  whence, 
where,  wherever,  while,  whither,  and  why. 

123.  The  words  that,  who,  what,  which,  whoever,  what- 
ever, whichever  are  relative   pronouns  when  they  join  a 
dependent  clause  to  a  main  clause  by  referring  to  a  noun 
or  pronoun  in  the  main  clause.    The  word  referred  to  is 
called  the  antecedent. 

She  asked  her  sister f  who  could  not  tell  her. 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH  25 

124.  Sentence.     A  group  of    words     expressing  one 
complete  idea.    When  a  sentence  contains  one  subject  and 
one  predicate,  it  is  called  a  simple  sentence.    See  also  under 
Compound  sentence  (1f  77),  and  Complex  sentence  (^  76). 

125.  Subject.    The  person,  place,  or  thing  of  which  the 
predicate  is  expressed. 

He  came  to  the  door. 

126.  Tense.     Forms  of   the  verb  which  indicate  the 
time  of  the  action. 

Present  tense.     I  laugh. 

Past  tense.     I  laughed. 

Future  tense.     I  shall  laugh. 

Present  perfect.     I  have  laughed. 

Past  perfect.     I  had  laughed. 

Future  perfect.     I  shall  have  laughed. 

127.  Transitive.     A  verb  which  can  take  a  direct  object 
is  called  a  transitive  verb;  a  verb  which  cannot  take  a  direct 
object  is  called  an  intransitive  verb. 

Transitive :  '  I  drew  a  long  breath. 
Intransitive :    I  breathed  with  difficulty. 

128.  Verb.     A  word  used  to  express  action  or  state  of 
being. 

I  am  tired. 

I  ran  all  the  way. 

129.  Voice.     That  form  of     the   verb   which    shows 
whether  the  subject  acts  or  is  acted  upon.    A  verb  is  in 
the  active  voice  when  it  represents  its  subject  as  acting, 
and  in  the  passive  voice  when  the  subject  is  acted  upon. 

Active :   I  have  answered  you. 
Passive :    Are  you  answered? 


IV 

THE     SENTENCE 

MATTERS  OF  PUNCTUATION. 

MANY  of  the  common  faults  in  sentence  structure 
are  faults  of  punctuation.  For  the  rules  of  punctuation, 
see  p.  32. 

130.  Some  writers,   for  special  purposes,   punctuate 
subordinate   clauses   as  though   they  were   sentences. 

I  took  him  for  a  clever  person.  Which  he  most  certainly 
was  not. 

The  average  writer,  however,  will  have  no  excuse  for 
such  a  practice,  and  it  is  to  be  carefully  avoided. 

131.  Some  adverbs,  like  then,  so,  also,  are  frequently 
misused   as   conjunctions   in   compound   sentences.      In 
such   cases  insert  the   conjunction  before   the   adverb, 
or  separate  the  clauses  by  a  semicolon. 

Wrong :     I   put   on    my   clothes   as    quickly   as   possible, 

then  I  followed  him  out  of  the  door. 
Right :  I  put  on  my  clothes  as  quickly  as  possible,  and 

then  I  followed  him  out  of  the  door. 
Or  :  I  put  on  my  clothes  as  quickly  as  possible  ;  then 

I  followed  him  out  of  the  door. 

132.  A  relative  pronoun  can  be  preceded  by  a  con- 
junction, as  in  and  which  or  but  which,  only  when  the  rela- 
tive pronoun  has  already  been  expressed. 

Wrong:  Mr.  Roberts,  the  president  of  the  company, 
and  who  is  my  best  friend. 

Right:  Mr.  Roberts,  ivho  is  the  president  of  the  com- 
pany, and  who  is  my  best  friend. 

Or:  Mr.  Roberts,  my  best  friend,  who  is  the  president 
of  the  company. 

26 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH  27 

THE  ARRANGEMENT  OF  THE  THOUGHT. 

A  writer  is  sometimes  doubtful  whether  to  punctuate 
two  related  statements  as  separate  sentences,  or  to  co- 
ordinate them  in  a  compound  sentence  (see  If  77). 

133.  If   two    or   more    independent    clauses    comple- 
ment each  other,  so  that  together  they  state  one  com- 
plete idea,  they  should  be  co-ordinated  in  a  compound 
sentence. 

Wrong :    I  spoke  to  him.     But  he  would  not  answer. 
Right :    I  spoke  to  him,  but  he  would  not  answer. 

134.  If  one  clause  in  a  compound  sentence  expresses  a 
thought  logically  subordinate  to  the  thought  of  the  rest 
of  the  sentence,  the  sentence  should  be  made  complex 
(see  ^[  76),  so  that   the  subordinate  thought  will  be  in 
a  subordinate  clause. 

Wrong :  To  please  his  father  he  studied  law,  and  he 
did  not  wish  to  practise  that  profession. 

Right :  To  please  his  father  he  studied  law,  although 
he  did  not,  etc. 

135.  In  complex  sentences  the  most  important  state- 
ment should  be  in  the  principal  clause;   the  secondary, 
qualifying  statements  should  be  in  the  subordinate  clause 
or  clauses. 

Wrong:    She  lingered  all  the  winter;    when  she  died, 

the  spring  came. 
Right :    She  lingered  all  the  winter ;    when  the  spring 

came,  she  died. 

136.  In  a  periodic  sentence  the  idea  is  not  completely 
expressed  until  the  period  is  reached.     The  purpose, of 
this  kind  of  sentence  is  to  hold  the  reader's  attention. 
Periodic  sentences  are  either  simple  or  complex. 

In  spite  of  his  long  experience,  in  spite  of  warning^ 
innumerable,  he  chose  the  only  course  that  was  sure 
to  make  him  miserable. 


28  WRITTEN   ENGLISH 

137.  In  a  loose  sentence  the  idea  might  be  considered 
complete  at  one  or  more  points  before  the  period  is  reached. 
The  purpose  of  this  kind  of  sentence  is  to  give  the  ordinary 
unpremeditated  sequence  of  conversation.  Loose  sen- 
tences are  either  simple  or  compound. 

I  joined  them  at  the  ferry,  and  we  went  to  the  dock, 
but  the  steamer  had  not  arrived. 

13a  When  emphasis  is  desired  at  the  end  of  a  sentence, 
the  final  word  should  be  important  in  meaning,  and  should 
preferably  end  in  an  accented  syllable. 

'*  But  of  Andromachus,  the  founder  of  the  well  built 
and  fairly  adorned  Greek  city  that  then  rose,  we 
hear  no  more  —  a  hero,  I  think,  one  of  the  true  breed 
of  the  founders  of  states." 

139.  A  sentence  ending  in  an  unaccented  word,   as 
a  pronoun  or  a  preposition,  will  have  a  comparatively 
weak  effect,  though  not  necessarily  an  undesirable  effect. 

"  She  attended  Laura  with  a  watchfulness  of  affection 
which  never  left  her." 

140.  The   rule,   often   prescribed,   that   no   sentence 
should  end  in  a  preposition,  is  a  pedantic  exaggeration 
of  the  normal  preference  for  strong  endings. 

"  The  madness  wherein  now  he  raves, 
And  all  we  wail  for." 

"And  makes  us  rather  bear  those  ills  we  have, 
Than  fly  to  others  that  we  know  not  of." 

141.  A  participle  at  the  beginning  of  a  sentence,  unless 
it  is  in  the  nominative  absolute   construction  (see  ^f  99), 
agrees  with  the  subject  of  the  sentence. 

Filled  with  enthusiasm,  the  crowd  cheered. 

142.  If  the  writer  does  not  intend  that  the  participle 
shall  agree  with  the  subject,  he  should  recast  the  sen- 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH  29 

tence;   otherwise  he  will  perpetrate  an  absurdity  known 
as  the  dangling  participle. 

Wrong :    Turning  the  corner,  a  house  stood  opposite  me. 
Right :    Turning  the  corner,  I  saw  a  house  opposite. 

MATTERS  OF  GRAMMAR. 

143.  A  relative  pronoun  is  parsed  with  the  verb  of  the 
relative  clause.    If  it  is  the  subject  of  that  verb,  it  must 
be  in  the  nominative  case;  if  it  is  the  object,  it  must  be 
in  the  objective  case.    The  case  of  the  relative  pronoun 
is  not  affected  by  the  verb  of  the  principal  clause,  nor 
by  the  verb  of  any  parenthetical  clause. 

You  who   (not  whom)    I  thought  were  true. 

Tell  it  to  whoever   (not  whomever)   seems  interested. 

In  this  latter  example  the  preposition  to  governs,  not  the 
relative  pronoun,  but  the  antecedent  him  understood. 

144.  In  the  accusative  with  the  infinitive  construction 
(see  ^[  56),  a  noun  or  pronoun  following  the  infinitive  is, 
like  the  subject  of  the  infinitive,  in  the  objective  case. 

They  proved  him  to  be  a  rascal. 
She  imagined  her  to  be  me. 

145.  The  present  participle  expresses  action  or  being 
contemporary  with  the  action  or  being  of  the  principal 

verb. 

f  I  say,  etc. 

Shaking  him  by  the  hand,      )  I  shall  say,  etc. 
/  I  said,  etc. 


146.  The  past  participle  expresses  action  or  being 
earlier  in  time  than  the  action  or  being  of  the  principal 
verb. 

(  I  went  out. 
Having  finished  my  work,       J  I  go  out. 

(  I  shall  go  out. 


30  WRITTEN   ENGLISH 

147.  The    present  infinitive   expresses  action  or  being 
contemporary  with  the  action  or  being  of  the  verb  on 
which  it  depends. 

I  intended  to  write  (not  to  have  written)  you. 

148.  The   past    infinitive    expresses    action    or    being 
earlier  in  time  than  the  action  or  being  of  the  verb  on 
which  it  depends. 

I  am  sorry  to  have  missed  you. 

149.  The  past  infinitive  also  expresses  action  or  being 
completed  before  some  time  denoted  otherwise  than  by  the 
tense  of  the  principal  verb. 

I  hope'  ta  have  finished  this  before  he  comes. 

150.  Verbs  like  to  seem,  to  look,  to  feel,  to  sound,  when 
used  as  copulas  (see  If  80),  are  not  modified  by  adverbs. 
They  are  followed  by  adjectives,  which  attribute  some 
quality  to  the  subject  of  the  verb. 

You  look  well  or  lovely  (not  splendidly  or  handsomely). 

The  picture  seems  pretty. 

The  organ  sounds  magnificent  (not  magnificently). 

The  misuse  of  adverbs  in  this  construction  leads  to  much 
unconscious  humor  in  the  average  person's  conversation. 
If  you  say  that  you  "  feel  badly, "  your  words  mean  that 
your  sense  of  touch  is  out  of  order.  If  you  say  that  your 
friend  "  looks  nicely/'  your  words  mean  that  she  uses  her 
eyes  with  fastidious  discrimination  (see  1f  281). 

151.  When  the  present  participle  is  used  as    a   noun 
(see  gerund  ^[90)  the  noun  or  pronoun  governing  it  is 
in  the  possessive  case. 

I  was  pleased  by  their  (not  them)  coming. 
I  told  him  of  John's  (not  John)  seeing  you. 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH  31 

152.  Demonstrative    pronouns,    and   other    words    of 
reference,   should   refer   to    some    antecedent    definitely 
expressed,  not  to  a  general  idea. 

Wrong :    He   wasted   his  afternoon   in   the  Park.      That 

is  something  I  detest. 
Right :    I  detest  such  waste  of  time ;    or,   I  detest  that 

way  of  spending  an  afternoon ;    or,  I  detest  the  Park. 

153.  The  same  pronoun  should  not  be  repeated  to  refer 
to  different  nouns.    Either  the  nouns  themselves  should 
be  used,  or  one  noun  should  be  put  in  a  different  number 
from  the  others. 

Wrong :    When   an   Englishman   meets  an   American,   he 

notices  first  the  points  in  which  he  differs  from  him. 
Correct  but  awkward :    When  an   Englishman  meets  an 

American,  the  Englishman  notices  first  the  points  in 

which  he  differs  from  the  American. 
Preferable  :    When  an  Englishman   meets  Americans,  he 

notices  first  the  points  in  which  he  differs  from  them. 

154.  In  general,  avoid   the  passive  voice,  unless   you 
cannot  say  what  you  mean  in  the  active  voice. 

Undesirable :    The   handsomest   building   seen   by  me   in 

that  city. 
Preferable :   The  handsomest  building  I  saw  in  that  city. 


PUNCTUATION 

155.  The  Period  is  used:  — 

(a)  To  mark  the  end  of  a  completed  sentence. 

(b)  After  an  abbreviation,  as  Mr.,  Dr.,  St. 

156.  The  Comma  is  the  sign  of  separation;  it  marks  a 
gap,  or  division  of  grammatical  structure.     It  is  used 
chiefly :  — 

J  157.   Before  conjunctions  between  the  clauses  of  com- 
pound sentences. 

My  place  is  very  small,  but  there  are  many  trees  and 

thickets. 

The  crickets  have  come,  and  are  cheerful  enough  in  their 
monotonous  way. 

158.  It  is  the  mistaken  practice  of  some  writers  never 
to  put  a  comma  before  and.     When  that  conjunction 
connects  anything  less  important  than  a  clause,  the  comma 
may  be  omitted;  but  between  clauses  and  must  be  pre- 
ceded by  a  comma. 

159.  The  comma  is  used  also  between  the  clauses  of 
complex  sentences. 

I  will  send  you  the  book  we  talked  of,  if  you  have  not 
a  copy  already. 

160.  In  very   short  complex  sentences  the  comma  is 
usually  omitted,  especially  if  the  dependent  clause  follow 
the  main  clause. 

I  will  come  if  I  can. 

161.  The  comma  is  used  also  between  a  long  subject 
and  its  verb. 

The   winding   lanes   that   break    up    the   island    into   in- 
describable geometric  figures,  are  its  chief  charm. 

32 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH  33 

162.  Before  and  after  words  or  phrases  in  apposition. 
Ralph  Jones,  the  youngest  scholar,  was  the  cleverest. 

163.  Before  and  after  all  words  used  parenthetically, 
or  words  of  address. 

His  attempts,  therefore,  were  not  successful. 
Robert,  will  you  go? 

164.  To  show  that  a  word  is  omitted. 
Admission,  ten  cents  (Admission  is  ten  cents). 
A  bright,  clear  day  (A  bright  and  clear  day). 

v  165.  Between  words  and  phrases  in  a  series,  even  when 
a  conjunction  is  not  omitted. 

Tom,  Dick,  and  Harry. 

He  studied  Latin,  Greek,  English,  and  Composition. 

It  would  be  logical  to  omit  the  comma  before  and  in  these 
examples,  but  most  writers  feel  it  necessary  to  show  that 
the  last  two  terms  in  a  series  are  not  to  be  considered  a 
unit. 

166.  Before  and  after  participial  phrases. 
Entering  the  room,  I  spoke  to  them. 

167.  Instead  of  the  exclamation  point. 
Alas,  I  cannot. 

168.  To  prevent  mistaken  combinations  of  words  in  a 
sentence. 

Years  after,  I  met  him. 

Over  the  window,  curtains  were  hung. 

Although  the  comma  gives  clearness  on  the  page,  the  pos- 
sibility of  a  double  meaning  remains  when  such  sentences 
are  read  aloud.  Every  sentence  of  this  kind  should  be 
remodeled. 

169.  Before   short  direct  quotations. 
He  said,  "  Your  meaning  is  clear." 

170.  Before  a  non-restrictive  relative  clause.    Relative 
clauses   are   roughly   divided   into   restrictive   and   non- 


34  WRITTEN   ENGLISH 

restrictive  relative  clauses.    A  non-restrictive  clause  merely 
describes  or  gives  information  about  its  antecedent. 
Mr.  Brown,  who  was  late,  had  to  stand  up. 

171.  A  restrictive  relative  clause  limits  and  narrows 
the  meaning  of  its  antecedent. 

The  person  who  told  me  is  an  authority. 

172.  A  non-restrictive  clause  can  usually  be  omitted 
without  affecting  the  thought  of  the  main  clause,  but  a 
restrictive  clause  can  not  generally  be  omitted  without 
changing  its  antecedent. 

173.  No  comma  is  used  before  a  restrictive  relative 
clause. 

174.  The  Semicolon  is  in  effect  a  conjunction;  it  marks 
not  a  separation  but  an  addition.    It  is  used  chiefly:  — 

175.  To  join  clauses  of  a  compound  sentence  where 
there  is  no  other  conjunction. 

He  watched  the  child  without  a  word ;  none  of  us 
doubted  what  he  might  have  said,  had  he  chosen. 

176.  To   join  clauses  of  a  compound  sentence  where 
the  ordinary  conjunction  has  been  used  between  words 
or  phrases,  and  thereby  the  clause  di vision  *has  become 
ambiguous. 

Instead  of  following  his  thoughts,  I  listened  to  the  sound 
of  his  voice,  to  its  music,  its  variety,  and  its  ampli- 
tude ;  and  I  understood  at  last  the  secret  of  his 
charm. 

177.  The  Colon  is  the  mark  of  anticipation.    It  intro- 
duces long  quotations  and  passages,   and  is  practically 
equivalent  to  as  follows: 

Daniel  Webster  rose  in  his  place,  and  said:    (quotation 

following). 
"  He   had  only   one   rule   of  warfare :    to  strike  harder 

than  the  enemy  and  to  strike  first." 
Ladies  and  Gentlemen : 


WRITTEN  ENGLISH  35 

l?a  The  Dash  is  the  sign  of  explanation.  It  marks  the 
insertion  of  a  word  or  group  of  words  more  important 
than  the  rest  of  the  sentence.  In  this  respect  it  differs 
from 

179.  The    Parenthesis,  which   marks  a  word  or  group 
of  words  less  important  than  the  rest  of  the  sentence. 
In  oral  reading,  the  voice  is  raised  for  emphasis  on  the 
words  preceded  by  a  dash;    it  is  lowered  on  the  words 
included  in  parenthesis. 

180.  Brackets  are   generally  used  only  to  enclose  ex- 
planations or  corrections,  inserted  by  the  author  or  editor 
into  the  statement  of  some  one  else. 

'    The  Hyphen  is  used  as  follows:  — 

181.  To  join  compound  words. 
Ex-president,  twenty-five. 

182.  To  mark  the  separation  of  a  word  at  the  end 
of  a  line. 

183.  To  separate    two    vowels   which  are  not  pro- 
nounced   together.      The    diaeresis    is    frequently    used 
for  the  same  purpose. 

Co-ordinate  or  coordinate. 

\/  184.  The  Question  Mark  and  the  Exclamatioh  Mark 
indicate  inflection  of  the  voice  rather  than  a  break  or 
connection  in  grammatical  structure.  They  may  take  the 
place  of  the  period  at  the  end  of  the  sentence,  but  they 
may  also  stand  anywhere  in  the  sentence,  to  indicate 
the  vocal  inflection  of  the  preceding  word  or  phrase. 

A  half-crown,  think  yef  a  half-crown? 
My  dear  Colonel,  how  hot  we  are!    how  angry  you  In- 
dian gentlemen  become! 


36  WRITTEN   ENGLISH 

185.  Quotation  Marks  are  used  to  separate  a  quotation 
from  the  rest  of  the  text.    If  a  quotation  includes  another 
quotation,  the  inner  quotation  is  set  off  by  single  quotation 
marks. 

"1    told    him    not    to    do    it,"    explained    the    Captain. 
" '  You'll  be  sorry  as  long  as  you  live/  I  said  to  him." 

186.  If    the    quotation    includes    several    continuous 
sentences  all  in  the  same  paragraph,  it  is  set  off  at  the 
beginning  of  the  first  and  at  the  end  of  the  last  sentence. 

187.  If    the   quotation   includes  several   paragraphs, 
it  is  set  off  at  the  beginning  of  all  the  paragraphs,  and  at 
the  end  of  the  last  paragraph. 

188.  Double    quotation  marks  are  used  to  indicate 
the  titles  of  books,  plays,  magazines,  etc.    These  marks 
are  not  used,  however,  if  the  titles  are  written  in  italics. 

The  Apostrophe  is  used  as  follows:  — 

*  189.  To  form  the  pdssessive  case,  singular  and  plural. 
Boy's,  boys'. 

J  190.  To  mark  the  omission  of  a  letter  or  letters. 

Don't,  I'll,  'tis,  'way. 

191.  To  make  a  plural  for  letters  and  figures. 
Cross  your  t's  and  dot  your  i's. 

Your  S's  and  3's  are  not  distinct. 

192.  Italics.    A  special  kind  of   type  used  in  printing. 
Ordinary  type  is  called  "  roman."    One  line  drawn  under- 
neath a  written  word  is  understood  to  be  the  equivalent 
of  italics.     Italics  are  used  for:  — 

193.  Words  to  be  especially  emphasized. 

194.  Words  from  a  foreign  language  which  have  not 
been  incorporated  into  the  English  language. 

195.  Sometimes  for  the  names  of  books,  newspapers, 
plays,  etc.,  in  place  of  quotation  marks. 


VI 

THE  PARAGRAPH 

196.  All  paragraphs  must  begin  on  a  new  line,  and  must 
be  indented  about  half  an  inch  to  the  right  of  the  margin. 

197.  As  a  sentence  expresses  one  idea,  so  a  paragraph 
expresses  and  develops   one    topic.      All    ideas   directly 
pertaining  to  one  topic  should  be  included   in  the  same 
paragraph. 

198.  A  careful  writer  thinks  out  the  topics  of  his  sub- 
ject in  advance,  and  often  notes  them  down  for  his  own 
guidance.     With  the  various  steps  of  his  thought  thus 
clearly  in  mind,  he  will  find  it  easy  to  state  in  a  single 
sentence  the  topic  of  each  paragraph  as  he  comes  to  it. 
This  sentence,  which  states  the  topic,  usually  near  the 
beginning  of  the  paragraph,  is  called  the  topic  sentence, 
and  in  correct  writing  the  topic  sentences,  taken  by  them- 
selves, give  an  adequate  outline  of  the  whole  composition. 
The  other  sentences  simply  develop  the  topic  of  the  para- 
graph to  which  they  belong. 

199.  The  topic  is  sometimes   stated  near  the  end  of 
the  paragraph.    In  that  case  the  topic  sentence  is  called 
a  summary   sentence.     Paragraphs  in    which  the  topic 
is  so  stated  have  the  effect  of  a  periodic  climax,  and 
are  analogous  to  periodic  sentences. 

200.  Topic    sentences    and     summary    sentences    are 
used   in  all   careful  expository  writing,   less   frequently 
in  narratives  and  descriptions.    In  description  the  details 
usually  follow  each  other  in  order  of  space ;  in  narration, 
in  order  of  time. 

37 


38  WRITTEN   ENGLISH 

201.  Short     articles,    editorials   or   reviews,    may   be 
written  in  only  one  paragraph,  but  if  the  subject  is  ex- 
tensive, each  phase  of  it  must  be  developed  in  a  separate 
paragraph. 

202.  Paragraphs,  like   sentences,   must  be  connected, 
either  by  conjunctions  or  by  some  words  of  reference,  or 
by  some  phrases  expressing  a  transition.    The  connectives 
between  paragraphs  should  be  more  elaborate  than  those 
between  sentences;    for  that    reason   ordinary  conjunc- 
tions, and,  so,  but,  are  inadequate  between  paragraphs. 

203.  Paragraphs  can  sometimes  be  connected  by  the 
repetition  of  an  idea,  or  of  a  phrase,  when  the  first  sen- 
tence of  the  second  paragraph  echoes  a  sentence  near  the 
end  of  the  preceding  paragraph. 

204.  The  connection  is  more  frequently  made  by  the 
use  of  such  words  and  phrases  as:  — 

however,   moreover,   therefore,    yet,   notwithstanding,  in 
the  meanwhile,  on  the  one  hand,  on  the  other  hand. 

205.  A   transition  paragraph,   consisting  of    very  few 
sentences  —  often    only    one    sentence  —  may   be    used 
to  connect  two  larger  paragraphs  whose  topics  do  not 
form  a  natural  sequence.     The  transition  paragraph  is 
found  most  frequently  in  stories. 

206.  In    narratives    it   is   customary   to   write    each 
speech,  however  short,  as  a  separate  paragraph. 

In  the  following  paragraphs  the  topic  sentences  are 
printed  in  italics;  the  connecting  words,  in  heavy  type. 

"  /  purpose  to  write  the  history  of  England  from  the  acces- 
sion of  King  James  the  Second  down  to  a  time  which  is 
within  the  memory  of  men  still  living.  I  shall  recount  the 
errors  which,  in  a  few  months,  alienated  a  loyal  gentry  and 
priesthood  from  the  House  of  Stuart.  I  shall  trace  the  course 
of  that  revolution  which  terminated  the  long  struggle  between 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH  39 

our  sovereigns  and  their  parliaments,  and  bound  up  together 
the  rights  of  the  people  and  the  title  of  the  reigning  dynasty. 
I  shall  relate  how  the  new  settlement  was,  during  many 
troubled  years,  successfully  defended  against  foreign  and  domes- 
tic enemies ;  how,  under  that  settlement,  the  authority  of  law 
and  the  security  of  property  were  found  to  be  compatible  with 
a  liberty  of  discussion  and  of  individual  action  never  before 
known ;  how,  from  the  auspicious  union  of  order  and  freedom, 
sprang  a  prosperity  of  which  the  annals  of  human  affairs  had 
furnished  no  example  ;  how  our  country,  from  a  state  of  igno- 
minious vassalage,  rapidly  rose  to  the  place  of  empire  among 
European  powers ;  how  her  opulence  and  her  martial  glory 
grew  together ;  how,  by  wise  and  resolute  good  faith,  was 
gradually  established  a  public  credit  fruitful  of  marvels  which 
to  the  statesmen  of  any  former  age  would  have  seemed  in- 
credible ;  how  a  gigantic  commerce  gave  birth  to  a  maritime 
power,  compared  with  which  every  other  maritime  power, 
ancient  or  modern,  sinks  into  insignificance ;  how  Scotland, 
after  ages  of  enmity,  was  at  length  united  to  England,  not 
merely  by  legal  bonds,  but  by  indissoluble  ties  of  interest  and 
affection ;  how,  in  America,  the  British  colonies  rapidly  be- 
came far  mightier  and  wealthier  than  the  realms  which  Cortes 
and  Pizarro  had  added  to  the  dominions  of  Charles  the  Fifth ; 
how  in  Asia,  British  adventurers  founded  an  empire  not  less 
splendid  and  more  durable  than  that  of  Alexander. 

"Nor  will  it  be  less  my  duty  faithfully  to  record  disasters 
mingled  with  triumphs^  and  great  national  crimes  and  follies 
far  more  humiliating  than  any  disaster.  It  will  be  seen  that 
even  what  we  justly  account  our  chief  blessings  were  not  with- 
out alloy.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  system  which  effectually 
secured  our  liberties  against  the  encroachments  of  kingly  power 
gave  birth  to  a  new  class  of  abuses  from  which  absolute 
monarchies  are  exempt.  It  will  be  seen  that,  in  consequence 
partly  of  unwise  interference,  and  partly  of  unwise  neglect,  the 
increase  of  wealth  and  the  extension  of  trade  produced,  to- 
gether with  immense  good,  some  evils  from  which  poor  and 
rude  societies  are  free.  It  will  be  seen  how,  in  two  important 
dependencies  of  the  crown,  wrong  was  followed  by  just  retribu- 
tion ;  how  imprudence  and  obstinacy  broke  the  ties  which 
bound  the  North  American  colonies  to  the  parent  state :  how 
Ireland,  cursed  by  the  domination  of  race  over  race,  and  of 
religion  over  religion,  remained  indeed  a  member  of  the  empire, 
but  a  withered  and  distorted  member,  adding  no  strength  to 


40  WRITTEN   ENGLISH 

the  body  politic,  and  reproachfully  pointed  at  by  all  who  feared 
or   envied  the   greatness   of   England. 

"Yet  unless  I  greatly  deceive  myself,  the  general  effect  of 
this  chequered  narrative  will  be  to  excite  thankfulness  in  all 
religious  minds,  and  hope  in  the  breasts  of  all  patriots.  For 
the  history  of  our  country  during  the  last  hundred  and  sixty 
years  is  eminently  the  history  of  physical,  of  moral,  and  of 
intellectual  improvement.  Those  who  compare  the  age  on 
which  their  lot  has  fallen  with  a  golden  age  which  exists  only 
in  their  imagination  may  talk  of  degeneracy  and  decay  :  but 
no  man  who  is  correctly  informed  as  to  the  past  will  be  dis- 
posed to  take  a  morose  or  desponding  view  of  the  present." 
—  MACAULAY'S  HISTORY  OP  ENGLAND,  Chap.  I. 


VII 

ARRANGEMENT  AND    CORRECTION  OF 
MANUSCRIPT 

207.  The    final    copy    of    any    literary    composition, 
whether  intended  for  publication  or  for  the  class  room, 
should  be  written  in  ink  on  only  one  side  of  the  page. 

208.  Manuscript  intended  for  publication  should  be 
typewritten. 

209.  The  most  convenient  size  of  paper  is  the  page 
ordinarily  used  for  college  themes  and  for  typewriting 
purposes,  about  eight  by  ten  inches. 

210.  A  margin  of  at  least  one  inch  should  be  left  at  the 
right  as  well  as  the  left  side  of  the  page,  and  the  pages 
should  be  numbered. 

211.  The  following  signs  are  used  as  directions  to  the 
printer  for  correcting  errors  in  manuscript  or  proof:  — 


No  new  paragraph. 

*&  MI,  Let  there  be  na  break  in  the  readily. 
^7        Make  a  new  paragraph. 
VVV      Correct  uneven  spacing  of  words. 

Oi       Strike  out  the  marked  type,  word,  or  sentence. 

Reverse  this  type. 
•#       More  space  where  caret  /^   is  marked. 

41 


42  WRITTEN   ENGLISH 

, : T.—, " • ~ 

v^  Contract  the  spacing. 

Ci  Take-out  all  spacing. 

f  Move  this  to  the  left. 

"I  Move  this  to  the  right. 

1       I  Raise  this  line  or  letter. 

i I  Depre3s  this  line  or  letter. 

//  Make  paraDel  at  the  side  with  other  line*. 

Q  Indent  line  an  em. 

\L,  Push  down  a  space  that  blackens  the  proof. 

X  Change  this  braised  type. 

uc  &  Change  this  faulty  type  of  a  wrong  font 

i/t4  Transpose  words  or  letters  underlined. 

Jt&  Cs  Put  in  lower  case,  or  small  letters, 

$,  Q  Put  in  small  capitals. 

CaftAs  put  in  capitals. 

^/  Insert  apostrophe.  Superior  characters  are  put  over  an 
inverted  caret,  as  ^  ^  V/  ty  etc. ;  for  inferior  charac- 
ters the  caret  is  put  in  its  usual  position,  as  in  fy  , 

Myy&    Change  from  italic  to  roman. 
jfc/h     Change  from  roman  to  italic. 
Q,     Insert  period. 
^/       Insert  comma. 

Insert  semicolon. 
•  /       Insert  colon. 

«= /       Insert  hyphen. 
.  I   • 
/— /    One-em  dash. 

/— i— /  Two-em  dash. 
/    ^-J 

c£     Take  out  cancelled  character  and  close  up. 

PL*<  ^v  ?  Is  this  right!    See  to  it. 


WRITTEN  ENGLISH  43 

A       Insert  letter  or  word  marked  in  margin. 
////      Hair-space  letters  as  marked, 
Sttt      Restore  crossed  out  word  or  letter. 
»•  ,  .       Dots  pot  below  the  crossed  word  mean :  Cancel  the  correc- 
tion first  made,  and  let  the  types  stand  as  they  were. 

^~>     Over  two  or  three  letters.    Change  for  the  diphthong  or  for 
a  logotype,  as  a,  ffi. 

•~  Straighten  lines. 

Diagonal  lines  crossing  the  test  indicate  that  the  composi- 
tion is  oat  of  square. 

Here  is  an  omission;  see  copy. 

The  following  underscorings  are  used  by  editors  as  di- 
rections for  italic,  small  capitals,  and  capitals. 

italic.         -'  ,   capitals. 

i    small  capitals.     T1  italic  capitals. 

212.     In  the  criticism  of  college  themes  the  following 
signs  are  often  used  to  indicate  necessary  changes:  — 
— ;?  —  Means  what ? 
?  —  Query   as   to   fact. 
Sp.  —  Bad  spelling, 
p.  —  Punctuation  wrong. 
H.  —  High   flown   or   inflated. 
V.  —  Vague. 
K.  —  Awkward,   ugly. 

B.  —  Deficient  in  emphasis. 

C.  —  Lacking  in  coherence. 
Con.  —  Faulty  construction. 

S.  —  Faulty  sentence  structure. 

U.  —  Lacking  in  unity. 

S.  U.  —  Sentence  lacks  unity. 

^  U.  —  Paragraph  lacks  unity. 

R.  —  Avoid    repetition. 

^f  —  Begin  new  paragraph. 

No   ^f  —  No  new  paragraph. 

W.  —  Wordy. 

MS.  —  Bad  manuscript. 


VIII 

LETTERS 

BUSINESS  AND  FRIENDLY. 

213.  The  Heading  contains  the  writer's  address  and 
the  date. 

214.  In  business  letters  the  address  should  be  written 
above  the  date,  and  the  entire  heading  should  be  placed 
at  the  beginning  of  the  letter,  near  the  top  of  the  right 
side  of  the  first  page. 

215.  When  the  address  is  given  in  the  heading  of  any 
letter,  it  should  not  be  repeated  at  the  close. 

216.  In  writing  an  address,  either  in  a  letter  or  on  an 
envelope,  do  not  put  No.  or  jf  before  the  number  of  the 
house. 

217.  The  British  always  put  a  comma  after  the  num- 
ber of  the  house,  as  23,  Fifth  Avenue.      This  is  proper, 
but  it  is  not  the  American  usage. 

218.  In  less  formal  or  friendly  letters,  the  heading 
may  be  placed  as  in  business  letters,  or  it  is  permissible 
to  write  the  address  and  date  at  the  end,  below  the  sig- 
nature and  at  the  left.    The  address  is  sometimes  written 
at  the  top  of  the  first  page  and  in  the  centre,  and  the 
date  is  written  below  the  signature,  at  the  left  side.    In 
either  case  when  the  date  is  placed  at  the  end,  the  day 
of  the  month  is  often  written  out  in  full. 

219.  When  the  day  of  the  month  is  written  in  numer- 
als, place  a  comma  after  the  numerals,  and  do  not  use 
st,  nd,  rd,  d,  or  th. 

44 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH  45 

220.  In  business  letters,  the  date  is  frequently  written 
entirely  in  numbers,  as,  7/16/10,  but  this  is  not  con- 
sidered the  best  usage  even  in  business  letters,  and  is 
never  permissible  in  friendly  letters  or  notes. 

221.  The    Salutation    appropriate  in  business  letters 
is  any  one  of  the  following: 

Dear  Sir  My  dear  Sir 

Dear  Madam  My  dear  Madam 

Dear  Sirs  Gentlemen 

222.  Madam   is   used   to   address  either   married   or 
unmarried  women. 

223.  The  abbreviation  Messrs,  should  never  be  used 
as  a  salutation. 

224.  In  friendly  letters  the  following  salutations  are 
proper : — 

Dear  Mr.  Adams  My  dear  Mrs.  Wells 

Dear  Miss  Harrison  My  dear  Mr.  Brown 

225.  All  salutations  preceded  by  My  are  more  formal 
than  those  without  the  pronoun.     My  dear  Sir  is  more 
formal  than  Dear  Sir,  and  My  dear  Mrs.  Fitch  than  Dear 
Mrs.  Fitch.     When  the  salutation  begins  with  My,  the 
word  dear  should  not  be  written  with  a  capital. 

226.  The  salutation  may  be  followed  by  a  comma, 
by   a    comma     and    a    dash,   by    a    colon,    or    by    a 
colon  and  a  dash.    The  least  formal  is  the  comma;   and 
the  colon,  with  or  without  the  dash,  is  generally  used  in 
business  letters,  especially  after  Gentlemen. 

227.  In  business  letters,  the  name  and  address  of  the 
recipient  are  usually  inserted  before  the  salutation,  as,  — 

Mr.  Henry  Price, 
546  Fifth  Avenue, 

New  York  City. 
My  dear  Sir:  — 


46  WRITTEN  ENGLISH 

In  these  addresses  within  the  letter,  a  period  is  placed  at 
the  end  of  the  last  line,  and  a  comma  at  the  end  of  each 
preceding  line. 

228.  If  the  letter  is  addressed  to  a  man,  the  title  Esq. 
may  be  written  after  the  name  instead  of  Mr.  before  it, 
as,  Henry  Price,  Esq. 

229.  In  more   familiar   letters,   when  the   salutation 
is  less  formal  —  such    as,  Dear  Mr.  Price  —  the   name 
and  address  of  the  recipient  are  often  written  below  the 
signature  and  at  the  left  of  the  page ;  but  in  friendly  letters, 
they  are  most  frequently  omitted  altogether. 

230.  Some   people    have    an    unreasonable   prejudice 
against  beginning  a  letter  with  /.    This  form  of  beginning, 
however,  is  often  the  most  natural;   you  would  begin  a 
conversation  in  this  way;    but  the  writer  should  avoid 
making  himself  unduly  prominent  throughout  the  letter. 
It  is  a  mistake  to  believe  that  this  can  be  accomplished 
merely  by  dropping  the  pronoun  /.    This  omission  results 
in  a  "  telegraphic  style,"  which  is  awkward  and  unpleasing 
and  not  permissible  in  any  form  of  good  writing,  as  "  Re- 
ceived your  letter.    Glad  to  hear  from  you  and  shall  expect 
you  Friday.    Hope  you  are  well. " 

231.  The  Formal  Closing  is  usually  in  business  letters 
Yours  truly  or  Very  truly  yours;  but  in  writing  to  a  dig- 
nitary to  whom  great  respect  is  due,  Respectfully  yours 
is   sometimes    the    formal    closing;    in    ordinary  letters, 
however,  it  is  not  used. 

232.  In   friendly    letters    the    formal    closing    varies 
according  to  the  relation  between  the   writer   and  the 
recipient,  as,  —  Sincerely   yours,  Cordially  yours,   Yours 
faithfully,  Yours  affectionately,  etc. 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH  47 

233.  The    Signature,  except  in  very  informal  letters, 
should  be  the  name  of  the  writer  in  the  form  which  he 
uses  in  signing  documents.    When  the  writer    f  a  business 
letter  is  a  woman,  she  should  indicate  whether  she  is  to 
be  addressed  as  Miss  or  Mrs.    If  she  is  unmarried,  she 
may  do  this  by  putting  Miss  in  parentheses  before  her 

signature,  as, 

Very  truly  yours, 

(Miss)   Margaret  W.  Eliot. 

234.  If  she  is  married,  however,  it  is  best  to  place 
below  the  signature  and  at  the  left  her  married  name 
by  which  letters  to  her  should  be  addressed,  as, 

Yours  truly, 

Edith  F.  Taylor. 
Mrs.  George  Taylor. 

235.  Margin.     All     letters,  whether  formal     or     in- 
formal, should  have  a  blank  margin  at  least  half  an  inch 
wide  at  the  left  side  of  each  page.    Some  writers  preserve 
a  margin  at  the  right  side  also. 

236.  Abbreviations  of    the  names  of    titles,   months, 
towns,  states,  etc.,  are  sometimes  used  in  business  letters 
for  the  sake  of  brevity,  but  they  are  not  usually  permis- 
sible in  friendly  or  informal  letters.    Mr.,  Mrs.,  Dr.,  Esq., 
and  initial  titles  suffixed,  like  Ph.D.,  are  among  the  excep- 
tions to  this  rule. 

237.  It  should  be. noted  that  Miss  is  not  an  abbrevia- 
tion, and  therefore  should  not  be  followed  by  a  period. 

238.  The  word  Messrs,  should  never  be  used  except 
in  business  letters. 

239.  The  Envelope.    The   name  and  full    address    of 
the  recipient   should  be  written  as  legibly   as  possible 
to  insure  the  safe  delivery  of  the  letter.    One  may  omit 


48  WRITTEN   ENGLISH 

all  marks  of  punctuation  at  the  end  of  the  lines,  or  may 
place  a  period  at  the  end  of  the  last  line  and  a  comma 
at  the  end  of  each  preceding  line  (see  also  U  227). 

FORMAL  INVITATIONS  AND  REPLIES. 

240.  Formal   invitations   and  replies    are  written   in 
the  third  person,  which  must  be  kept  consistently  through- 
out.    They  have  no  heading  at  the  beginning,  no  salu- 
tation, no  formal  closing,  and  no  signature. 

241.  The  address  of  the  writer  and  the  date  may  be 
written  below  and  at  the  left.     The  day  of  the  month 
should  be  written  out  in  full  wherever  a  date  occurs, 
and  the  year  is  usually  omitted.    It  is  customary  to  date 
formal  replies,  but  not  the  invitations. 

242.  No   abbreviations,  except  Mr.,  Mrs.,  and  Dr., 
should  be  used. 

243.  Formal  invitations  and  replies  are  usually  ar- 
ranged in  lines  of  different  lengths,  so  that  the  names  of 
the  sender  and  of  the  recipient  are  each  on  a  separate 
line.     This  is  always  the  custom  when  the  invitation  is 
engraved. 

244.  In    accepting    an   invitation,  the   writer   should 
repeat  the  day  and  hour  mentioned,  in  order  to  prevent 
a  mistake;    but  in  declining  an  invitation,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  mention  only  the  day. 

245.  Formal  invitation. 

Mrs.  William  Atterbury 

requests  the  pleasure  of 

Miss  Martha  Brown's 

company  at  dinner 
on   Wednesday,  the  sixth  of  March, 

at  half  after  seven  o'clock. 
16  East  57th  Street. 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH  49 

246.  Formal  reply,  accepting. 

Miss  Martha  Brown 

accepts  with  pleasure 

the  kind  invitation  of 

Mrs.  William  Atterbury 

to  dinner  on  Wednesday  evening, 

the  sixth  of  March, 
at  half  after  seven  o'clock 
520  Madison  Avenue , 

February  twenty-third. 

247.  Formal  reply,  declining. 

Miss  Martha  Brown 
regrets  that  a  previous  engagement 

makes  it  impossible  for  her 
to  accept  the  kind  invitation  of 

Mrs.  William  Atterbury 
to  dinner  on  Wednesday  evening, 

the  sixth  of  March. 
520  Madison  Avenue, 
February  twenty-third. 

248.  The    mistake    is   frequently   made    in   replying 
to  formal  invitations  of  putting  the  verbs  of  acceptance 
or  declining  in  the  future  tense.     The  accepting  or  re- 
gretting an  invitation  is  an  action  of  the  present,  not  of 
the  future,  and  the  phrases  should  not  read,  will  be  de- 
lighted to  accept,  or  regrets  that  he  will  be  unable  to  accept, 
but  should  be  is  delighted  to  accept  or  accepts,  and  regrets 
that  he  is  unable  to  accept. 


IX 

PROSODY 

THE  rhythm  of  English  verse  is  determined  by  the 
number  and  position  of  the  accents.  It  is  convenient, 
however,  to  think  of  the  line  as  made  up  of  certain  feet  or 
measures,  following  chiefly  four  types  :  — 

249.  The  Trochee,  consisting  of  one  accented  sylla- 
ble and  one  unaccented  -£  .  ^ 


J-  uljL  ^  -£   W      '  vj 
Once  ijpon  a  midmgnt  dreary. 

250.  The  Iamb,  consisting  of  one  unaccented    sylla- 
ble and  one  accented  ^  <£ 

w     jLl  ^     X/v/      J~    Iv    *L  fv    -L    ! 

The  curfew  tolls  the  knell  of  parting  day/ 

251.  The   Anapest,  consisting  of  two  unaccented  syl- 
lables and  one  accented  syllable  c/  w   ^. 

+s    -£•    I  «_/   \j  J-t  \s   \^f     -£~  f\j  u    -L+  J 

O,  young  Lochinvarhas  come  ouu  of  the  West. 

252.  The  Dactyl,  consisting  of  one  accented  syllable 
and  two  unaccented  syllables   -^  ^  o 


-^  ^  ***  J  '-£  v/    u/  JL^     *s  I  jL    \*     I  J~      ±s  \s  / 

This  is  the  forest  primeval;  ther  murmuring  pines  and  the' 

hemlocks/ 

253.      As  soon  as  the  rhythm  of  the  line  is  well  estab- 
lished  in  the  reader's  ear,  variations  of  the  feet  may 

60 


WRITTEN  ENGLISH  51 

occur  in  later  lines.  The  first  line  should  give  the  rhythm ; 
after  that  any  variations  are  possible  which  fit  in  with 
the  rhythm. 

w  -£•  A*  -^- A/    -^-    /  \s 

Outside'of  alrthe  worlds  and 

There  whereM;he  f  OOF  is  as/the  sage'is^ 
There  where  the  slayer  is  clear  of  blood. 

VERSE  DECORATION. 

254.  Rhyme,    identity  of  sound  at  the  end  of  the 
lines,  reckoning  from  the  last  accent. 

"  The  rest  to  some  faint  meaning  make  presence, 
But  Shadwell  never  deviates  into  sewse." 

. 

255.  The  rhyme  of  one  accented  syllable  is  called  the 
masculine   rhyme. 

11  Sate  like  a  blooming  Eastern  bride, 
In  flower  of  youth  and  beauty's  pride." 

256.  The  rhyme  of  one  accented  and  one  unaccented 
syllable  (trochee)  is  called  the  feminine  rhyme. 

"  Softly  sweet,  in  Lydian  measures,, 
Soon  he  soothed  his  soul  to  pleasures." 

257.  Assonance,  identity  of  vowel  sound  with  differ- 
ence of  consonant  sound  at  the  end  of  lines,  reckoning 

from  the  last  accent. 

t 

"War,   our   consumption,  was  their   gainful   trade; 
We  inward  bled,  whilst  they  prolonged  our  pain." 

258.  Alliteration,  identity  of  consonant  sound  at  the 
beginning  of  words. 

M  For  who  would  read  thy  life  that  reads  thy  rhymes?" 


52  WRITTEN   ENGLISH 

STANZA  FORMS. 

259.  The  stanza  is  to  verse  what  the  sentence  or  the 
paragraph  is  to  prose. 

260.  In  most  poems  the  stanza  form  is  regular,  — 
that  is,  each  stanza  matches  the  others  in  rhyme  order 
and  line  length.     In  some  poems,  however,  the  stanzas 
vary  with  the    changing    moods    and  emotions,   as   in 
Wordsworth's   "  Ode    on  the   Intimations  of  Immortal- 
ity."   For  this  free  stanza  there  are  no  rules,  and  none 
but  experienced  poets  should  attempt  it. 

Of  regular  stanza  forms  there  is  an   infinite  variety. 
The  most  familiar  are :  — 

261.  The    Heroic     Couplet,   two    consecutive    iambic 
lines,  rhyming,  with  five  accents  to  the  line. 

"  Great  wits  are  sure  to  madness  near  allied, 
And  thin  partitions  do  their  bounds  divide." 

262.  The  Elegiac  Stanza,  four    iambic    lines,  of   five 
accents  to  the  line,  rhyming  alternately. 

"  The  curfew  tolls  the  knell  of  parting  day  ; 

The  lowing  herd  winds  slowly  o'er  the  lea ; 
The  plowman  homeward  plods  his   weary  way, 
And  leaves  the  world  to  darkness  and  to  me." 

263.  The    Italian    Sonnet,   of   fourteen  iambic   lines, 
five  accents  to  the  line.    The  first  eight  lines,  called  the 
octave,  are  made  on  two  rhymes,  in  the  order  abbaabba. 
The   remaining  six  lines,  called  the  sextet,  are  made  on 
two  or  three  rhymes,  in  practically  any  order  the  poet 
chooses,  —  most    frequently,    however,     in    the    order 
cdcdcd,  orcdecde. 

In  the  octave  the  subject  is  introduced,  frequently  by 
a  simile;    in  the  sextet  the  application  of  the  simile  is 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH  53 

_ _ ____________ ____ _ — ^_ — _ — 

_^_ 

made,  or  the  subject  is  so  developed  that  the  thought  of 
the  sonnet  rises  like  a  wave  to  a  climax  in  the  eighth  line 
and  recedes  to  the  last  line. 

"  As  a  fond  mother,  when  the  day  is  o'er, 
Leads  by  the  hand  her  little  child  to  bed, 
Half   willing,   half  reluctant  to   be  led, 
And  leave  his  broken  playthings  on  the  floor, 
Still  gazing  at  them  through  the  open  door, 
Nor  wholly  reassured  and  comforted 
By  promises  of  others  in  their  stead, 
Which,  though  more  splendid,  may  not  please  him  more ; 
So  Nature  deals  with  us,   and  takes  away 
Our  playthings  one  by  one,  and  by  the  hand 

Leads  us  to  rest  so  gently,  that  we  go 
Scarce  knowing  if  we  wish  to  go  or  stay, 
Being  too  full  of  sleep  to  understand 
How  far  the  unknown  transcends  the  what  we  know." 

—  LONGFELLOW. 

264.    The    English  Sonnet,  three  elegiac  stanzas  fol- 
lowed by  a  heroic  couplet. 

"  When,  in  disgrace  with  fortune  and  men's  eyes, 
I  all  alone  beweep  my  outcast  state, 
And  trouble  deaf  heaven  with  my  bootless  cries, 
And  look  upon  myself,  and  curse  my  fate, 
Wishing  me  like  to  one  more  rich  in  hope, 
Featured  like  him,  like  him  with  friends  possess'd, 
Desiring  this  man's  art  and  that  man's  scope, 
With  what  I  most  enjoy  contented  least ; 
Yet  in  these  thoughts  myself  almost  despising, 
Haply  I  think  on  thee,  and  then  my  state, 
Like   to   the   lark  at   break   of   day   arising 
From  sullen  earth,  sings  hymns  at  heaven's  gate ; 
For  thy  sweet  love  remember'd  such  wealth  brings 
That  then  I  scorn  to  change  my  state  with  kings." 

—  SHAKSPERE. 

265.  The  Ballad  Stanza,  four  lines  of  four  and  three 
accents  alternately,  rhyming  at  the  end  of  the  second 
and  fourth  lines,  or  rhyming  alternately  in  the  order  a  b  a  b. 


54  WRITTEN   ENGLISH 

"  I  saw  the  new  moon  late  yestreen 
Wi'  the  auld  moon  in  her  arm, 
And  if  we  gang  to  sea,  master, 
I   fear   we'll   suffer   harm." 

—  OLD  BALLAD. 
"  That  is  the  land  of  lost  content, 

I    see  it   shining  plain, 
The  happy  highways  where  I  went 
And  cannot  come  again." 

—  A  SHROPSHIRE  LAD. 

266.     Blank  verse,  unrhymed  iambic  lines,  five  accents 
to  the  line,  arranged  in  paragraphs  of  unrestricted  length. 
"  Of  Man's  first  disobedience,  and  the  fruit 
Of  that  forbidden  tree  whose  mortal  taste 
Brought  death  into  the  World,  and  all  our  woe, 
With  loss  of  Eden,  till  one  greater  Man 
Restore  us,  and  regain  the  blissful  Seat, 
Sing,  Heavenly  Muse,  that,  on  the  secret  top 
Of  Oreb,  or  of  Sinai,  didst  inspire 
That  Shepherd  who  first  taught  the  chosen  seed 
In  the  beginning  how  the  heavens  and  earth 
Rose  out  of  Chaos  :    or,  if  Sion  hill 
Delight  thee  more,  and  Siloa's  brook  that  flowed 
Fast  by  the  oracle  of  God,  I  thence 
Invoke  thy  aid  to  my  adventrous  song, 
That  with  no  middle  flight  intends  to  soar 
Above  the  Aonian  mount,  while  it  pursues 
Things  unattempted  yet  in  prose  or  rhyme. 
And  chiefly  Thou,  O  Spirit,  that  dost  prefer 
Before  all  temples  the  upright  heart  and  pure, 
Instruct  me,  for  Thou  know'st ;    Thou  from  the  first 
Wast  present,  and,  with  mighty  wings  outspread, 
Dove-like  sat'st  brooding  on  the  vast  Abyss, 
And  mad'st  it  pregnant :    what  in  me  is  dark 
Illumine,  what  is  low  raise  and  support ; 
That,  to  the  highth  of  this  great  argument, 
I  may  assert  Eternal  Providence, 
And  justify  the  ways  of  God  to  men. 

—  MILTON. 


COMMON    ERRORS 

267.  Accept.     Sometimes  confused  with   except.     To 
accept  means  to  take  when  offered ;  to  except,  to  leave  out, 
to  exclude. 

We  accept  your  gift. 

We   except   you   from   criticism. 

268.  Affect.     Often    confused  with  effect.     To  affect, 
to  influence,  to  act  upon;  to  effect,  to  accomplish. 

The  hot  sun  affects  some  people. 
We  effected  our  purpose. 

269.  The  noun  effect  means  result. 
The  warning  had   the   desired   effect. 

270.  Aggravate.     Means  to  increase  in  severity  or  in- 
tensity.    Not  to  be  used  in  the  sense  of  provoke,  exas- 
perate. 

271.  Allude.     Not  to  be  used  in  the  sense  of  mention. 
Allude  means  to  refer  indirectly  or  by  suggestion;   men- 
tion, to  name  without  describing. 

TTe  did  not  mention  the  general  in  his  speech,  but  every- 
one understood  that  he  was  alluding  to  him  in  his 
remarks  on  the  war. 

272.  Alright.     A    common  monstrosity  for   all    right 
Formed  by  analogy  with  already.    Illiteracy  has  few  more 
legible   autographs. 

273.  Anxious.       Often    incorrectly    used    for    eager. 
Anxious  means   troubled   or   distressed   in  mind   about 
something  uncertain;  intent  on,  with  the  idea  of  uneasi- 

65 


5G  WRITTEN   ENGLISH 

ness.  Eager  means  impatient  or  ardently  desiring  to 
obtain  or  accomplish  some  end;  intent  on,  with  the  idea 
of  pleasure. 

I  am  eager  to  see  her,  for  I  am  very  fond  of  her,  and 
I  have  been  anxious  about  her  health. 

274.  Anybody    else's.      Possessive     of     anybody    else. 
Some  writers  use  the  form  anybody's  else,  but  anybody  else's 
is  generally  preferred,  since  the  tendency  in  English  is 
to  form  the  possessive  of  a  group  of  words  by  adding 
the  sign  of  possession  to  the  last  word  of  the  group, 
as,  The  King  of  England's  throne. 

275.  As — as,  so — as.    The  distinction  usually  made  be- 
tween these  correlative  adverbs  is  that  as  —  as  is  used 
in  affirmative  statements;   so  —  as,  in  negative  ones. 

He  is  as  tall  as  his  brother. 
He  is  not  so  tall   as  his   father. 

276.  Assist  at.     Not  to  be  used  in  the  sense  of  were 
present. 

Many  friends  were  present  (not  assisted  at)  the  wedding. 

277.  Avocation.    Often   confused  with  vocation.     Vo- 
cation means  a  man's  calling  or  profession;  avocation,  his 
amusement  or  diversion  from  that  vocation. 

278.  Awful.     Not   to  be  used  in  the  slang  sense  of 
veryt  exceedingly. 

279.  Back  of.    Inelegant  in  the  sense  of  behind  or  at 
the  back  of. 

The  garage  is  behind,  or  at  the  back  of  (not  back  of) 
the  house. 

280.  Bad,  badly.     After  verbs  of  incomplete  predica- 
tion, the  adjective  should  be  used  instead  of  the  adverb. 

It  tastes  sweet  (not  sweetly). 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH  57 

281.  After  feel  and  look,  it  is  permissible  to  use  either 
bad  or  badly,  but  persons  with  a  sense  of  humor  may  find 
reasons  for  avoiding  both  expressions  (see  ^f  150). 

282.  Calculate.      Not    to    be  used    in    the  colloquial 
sense  of  intend  or  think. 

283.  Can,  may.    Often  confused.    Can  denotes  ability; 
may,  possibility  or  permission. 

284.  Combine.     Not  to  be  used  in  the  sense  of   com- 
bination. 

An  important  combination  (not  combine)  of  railroads. 

285.  Complected.     Vulgar  use  in  the  sense  of   com- 
plexion. 

She  has  a  light  complexion,  not  She  is  light  complected. 

286.  Continual.  Often  confused  with  continuous.    Con- 
tinual means  occurring  in  close  succession,  in  regular  and 
frequent  repetition;  continuous,  without  cessation  or  in- 
terruption. 

To  Thee  Cherubim  and  Seraphim  continually  do  cry  Holy, 

Holy,  Holy. 
The  continuous  path  of  the  stars. 

287.  Deadly.    Often  confused  with  deathly. 

288.  Demean.    Means  to  behave  or  conduct  (oneself). 
Incorrectly  used  for  debase,  disgrace,  or  degrade. 

289.  Differ  from.     Should  be  distinguished  from  differ 
with.     Differ  from  means  to  be  unlike,  dissimilar;   differ 
with,  to  disagree  in  opinion,  to  dissent. 

290.  Different  than.     Common  error  for  different  from. 
It  is  different  from  (not  than)  the  one  I  last  used. 

291.  Different    to.     Commonly  used  in  England  for 
different  from.    Not  accepted  in  the  United  States. 


58  WRITTEN   ENGLISH 

—_—____»___ 

292.  Don't.     Contraction  for  do  not.     Should  not  be 
used  for  does  not. 

293.  Each,  every.    Should  not  be  used  with  the  plural 
of  pronouns  or  verbs. 

Each   of   the   boys   has   his   own   book    (not   have   their 
own  books). 

294.  Either,  neither.     Denote  one   of  two,  not  one  of 
three  or  more.  One  of  three  or  more  is  denoted  by  any  one 
or  none. 

I   saw   James,   and   Tom,   and   George,    and   any   one   of 

them    (not  either)    is   willing  to  help. 
Here  are  the  three  pencils,   but  none   (not  neither)    of 

them  will  write. 

295.  Either  —  or,    neither  —  nor.     When    these    cor- 
relative conjunctions  are  used  with  a  singular   noun  or 
pronoun,  they  should  be  followed  by  a   singular    verb 
form  which  agrees  with  the  nearest  noun  or  pronoun. 

Either  he  or  she  is  going. 
Either  he  or  I  am  going. 
Either  he  or  you  are  going. 

296.  Elegant.    Not  to  be  used  to  denote  every  form  of 
approval. 

297.  Else.     Should  be  followed  by  than,  not  but. 
It  is  nothing  else  than  (not  but)  vanity. 

298.  Emigrant.    Frequently  confused  with  immigrant. 
When  a  person  migrates  from  a  country,  he  is  an  emi- 
grant ;  when  to  a  country,  he  is  an  immigrant. 

299.  Enthuse.     Colloquial  verb  formation  from    en- 
thusiasm.   To  be  avoided. 

300.  Exceptional.    Often  confused  with  exceptionable. 
Exceptional  means  contrary  to  the  rule,  unusual,  uncom- 
mon;  exceptionable,  open  to  exception,  objectionable. 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH  59 

301.  Expect.     Not    to   be  used  for  think,  believe,  or 
suppose. 

302.  Farther.    Not  to  be  confused  with  further.    Farther 
is  the  comparative  form  of  far,  and  is  applied  to  distance ; 
further  means  additional. 

I  will  go  that  far  and  no  farther  (not  further). 
He  gave  the  matter  further  consideration. 

303.  Firstly.     As  first  is  an  adverb  as  well  as  an  ad- 
jective, it  does  not  need  the  suffix  ly.    First  is  the  correct 
form. 

304.  Fix.     Means   to  fasten,  make  secure,  establish. 
Not  to  be  used  loosely  in  the  sense  of  repair,  arrange,  or 
prepare. 

305.  Flee,  fly,  flow.    Frequently  confused.    Principal 
parts : 

Flee,  fled,  fled. 
Fly,  flew,,  flown. 
Flow,  flowed,  flowed. 

306.  Gentleman,    lady.     Not  to  be    used    merely  to 
distinguish  sex. 

Saleswoman   (not  saleslady),   business  men   (not  gentle- 
men). 

307.  Some  people  who  would  not  use  these  particular 
Tords  are  guilty  of  the  following: 

In  this  country  gentlemen  vote ;    whether  or  not  ladies 
will   is   a  question." 

308.  Got.    Means  to  acquire,  gain  possession  of.    Not 
to  be  used  to  denote  mere  possession.    There  is   an  un- 
reasonable prejudice  against  the  form  got;  it  is  perfectly 
correct.    Principal  parts: 

Get,  got,  got  or  gotten. 


60  WRITTEN   ENGLISH 

309.  Guess.     Not  to  be  used  colloquially  in  the  sense 
of  think,  expect,  intend. 

310.  Handfuls.     Correct  plural  of  handful. 

311.  Hear    to    it.     Not  to  be  used  in    the  colloquial 
sense  of  consent  to  it,  or  allow  it. 

312.  Hung.     The  verb  hang  is  peculiar  in  that  it  has 
two   separate  forms  for  its  preterite  and  past  participle 
to  express  two  special  meanings.    The  forms  hang,  hung, 
hung,  express  the  usual  meaning  of  suspension  from  some- 
thing, but  hang,  hanged,  hanged  denote  an  execution. 

The  clothes  were  hung  in  the  closet. 
The   murderer  was  hanged. 

313.  I.    Purists  insist  on  It  is  I,  but  It  is  me  is  now 
generally  accepted  in  speech  and  in  informal  writing.     It 
is  him  or  It  is  her,  however,  is  not  permissible. 

314.  In.     Often    incorrectly  used  for  into.     Into  de- 
notes motion  toward,  or  tendency;  in,  position  or  state. 

He  is  in  his  house. 

They  went  into   (not  in)   his  house. 

315.  Individual.    Means  a  single  person  or  thing  as  a 

unit. 

The  individual  has  to  be  considered  as  well  as  the  cor- 
poration. 

316.  Not  to  be  used  to  denote  one  person  merely. 
He  is  a  queer  man  (not  individual). 

317.  Invite.    Vulgarism  for  invitation. 

318.  It's.     Contraction  for  it  is.    Not  to  be  confused 
with  its,  the  possessive  pronoun.     Note  that  the  posses- 
sive case  of  pronouns  is  not  formed  with  an  apostrophe. 

Ours,  yours,  hers,  his,  its,  theirs. 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH  61 

319.  Kind  of  a,  sort  of  a.    Vulgar  error  for  kind  of, 
sort  of. 

He  is  the  right  sort  of  (not  sort  of  a)  person. 

What  kind  of  (not  kind  of  a)  fish  have  you  this  morning? 

I  like  this  kind  of  (not  kind  of  a)  music. 

320.  Lay,  lie.      As   the  present  tense  of  lay  and  the 
preterite  of  lie  are  the  same,  these  verbs  are  often  con- 
fused.   Principal  parts: 

Lay   (to  put  down),  laid,  laid. 
Lie   (to  rest),   lay,  lain. 

321.  Liable,  likely,  and  apt.    Liable  implies  that  what 
may  happen  will  be  unfortunate  or  unpleasant. 

That  sail  boat  is  liable  to  upset, 

322.  Likely    implies    strong  probability,  and  usually 
has  a  favorable  meaning. 

An  industrious  man  is  likely  to  succeed. 

323.  Apt  implies  a  natural  fitness  or  tendency. 
A  good-natured  person  is  apt  to  make  friends  easily. 

324.  Like.     Often  incorrectly  used  for  as.     Like  has 
the  force  of  a  preposition,   and  is  properly  used  only 
with  nouns  or  their  equivalents. 

She  thinks  as  I  do. 

He  looks  like  his  father. 

325.  Loan,  lend.    Loan  is  the  noun;    lend,  the  verb. 
Many  writers,  however,  use  loan  as  well  as  lend  as  a  verb, 
reserving  loan  for  large  values,  and  lend  for  insignificant 
things. 

He  loaned  him  a  thousand  dollars. 
Lend  me  a  pin. 

326.  Loose.      Frequently   misspelled   for   lose.     The 
sound  of  the  vowel  in  lose  probably  suggests  the  double  oo. 


62  WRITTEN   ENGLISH 

327.  Lot,  lots.    Not  to  be  used  colloquially  for  a  great 
many. 

328.  Nice.     Implies  discrimination. 
He  has  a  nice  taste  in  dress. 

329.  Not  to  be  used  colloquially  to  express  every  kind 
of  approval. 

It  is  a  pleasant   (not  nice)   day. 
She  is  a  charming   (not  nice)   girl. 

330.  Nothing  like.     Not    to    be  used  adverbially  for 
not  nearly. 

Those  buildings  are  not  nearly  (not  nothing  like)  so  tall 
as  those  we  saw  in  New  York. 

331.  Only.     Should  be  placed  carefully  in  the  sentence 
to  prevent  ambiguity.     Note  the  difference  in  meaning 
of  the  following  sentences. 

Only  I  saw  him  to-day  ;    the  others  could  not  meet  him. 

I  only  saw  him  to-day  ;  I  had  no  opportunity  to  speak 
to  him. 

I  saw  only  him  to-day,  as  his  brother  was  ill. 

I  saw  him  only  to-day  ;  I  could  hot  make  an  appoint- 
ment yesterday. 

332.  Party.     Not  to  be  used  vulgarly  in  the  sense  of  a 
man  or  person. 

He  is  a  cheerful  man  (not  party). 

333.  Plenty.      Not  to  be  used  colloquially  for  enough. 
I  have  enough  (not  plenty)   to  do. 

334.  Posted.      Not    to   be   used   colloquially   for  in- 
formed. 

He  is  very  well  informed  (not  posted)  about  politics. 

335.  Practical.        Often    confused    with    practicable. 
Practical   means   pertaining   to   actual   use;    practicable, 
possible  of  execution. 


WRITTEN   ENGLISH  63 

336.  Presume.     Not  to  be  confused  with  expect.  Pre- 
sume means  to   assume   as  true  without  direct  knowl- 
edge, to  take  as  probable;   expect,  to  look  forward  to  as 
certain  or  probable,  to  anticipate  in  thought. 

337.  Principle.     Frequently  confused  with  principal. 
Principle  is  a  noun,  meaning  a  general  truth  or  proposi- 
tion, or  a  fundamental  cause.     Principal  is  a  noun  or 
adjective;   as  a  noun,  it  means  one  who  takes  a  leading 
part,  or  one  who  is  at  the  head  of  a  school ;  as  an  adjective, 
it  means  first,  or  highest  in  rank  or  importance. 

338.  Propose.     Means  to  offer.     Should  not  be  used 
for  purpose  or  intend. 

I  don't  intend  (not  propose)   to  be  imposed  on. 

339.  Raise.       Not  to  be  used  colloquially  as  a  noun 
meaning  increase. 

He  has  had  an  increase  of  (not  raise  in)   salary. 

340.  Real.     Not  to  be  used  in  the  sense  of  very. 
It's  a  very  (not  real)  cold  day. 

341.  Reckon.     Not  to  be  used  in  the  colloquial  sense 
of  think j  believe. 

342.  Recollect  of,  remember  of.    The  use  of  the  prep- 
osition of  after  the  verbs  recollect  and  remember  is  con- 
sidered a  vulgarism,  but  this  use  is  sometimes  found  in  good 
writers. 

343.  Sang,  sung.     Principal  parts: 
King,  sang  or  sung,  sung. 

344.  The  form  sang  is  preferable  as  the  preterite. 
He  sang  well  preferable  to  He  sung  well. 

345.  It  is  wrong,  however,  to  say,  He  has  sang. 


64  WRITTEN   ENGLISH 

346.  Shall,  will.     Even  the  educated    commonly  fail 
to  distinguish  between  these  words.    The  future  tenses 
of  all  verbs  use  shall  in  the  first  person,  will  in  the  second 
and  the  third.     This  denotes  merely  a  future  state  or 
action. 

347.  To  express  determination,  will  is  used  in  the  first 
person ;  shall,  in  the  second  and  the  third. 

348.  In  questions  the  form  is  used  which  is  expected 
in  the  reply. 

"  Will  you  promise?"     "I  will." 

"  Shall  you  be  at  home  this  evening?"  "I  shall  be." 

349.  Should,  would.    In  general,  the  uses  of  should  and 
would  are  parallel  to  those  of  shall  and  will.     Should  is 
also  used  to  express  obligation  or  duty. 

I  should  (or  ought  to)  go. 

350.  Sit,  set.     Verbs    frequently  confused.     Principal 
parts : 

Sit,  sat,  sat  (intransitive  verb). 
Set,  set,  set  (transitive  verb). 

351.  Splendid.      Not  to   be  used  indiscriminately   for 
everything  admired. 

352.  Spoonfuls.     Correct  plural  of  spoonful. 

353.  Stop.     Not  to   be  used    in   the    sense   of   stay. 
Stop  is  to  cease  moving,  the  opposite  of    start;   stay,  to 
continue  in  a  place. 

The  train  stopped  at  New  Haven. 

I  am  staying  (not  stopping)  in  Boston. 

354.  Team.    Two  or  more  beasts  of  burden  harnessed 
together  to  draw  some  one  or  something.      Improperly 
used  for  one  horse  and  wagon. 


.    W  KITTEN   ENGLISH  65 

355.  These  kind,  these    sort.       Vulgar  error  for  this 
kind,  this  sort. 

356.  Very.      Not    generally  used   alone   before   past 
participles. 

I  am  very  much  disappointed  (not  very  disappointed). 

357.  Ways.      Not  to  be  used  colloquially  for  way. 
The  church  is  a  long  way  (not  ways)  from  here. 

358.  Worse.     Not  to  be  used  for  more. 

I  dislike  tea  more  (not  worse)  than  coffee. 

359.  You    and   I,  you    and   me.     When  used  as  the 
joint  object  of  a  preposition,  or  the  joint  subject  or  object 
of  a  verb,  these  pronouns  should  be  carefully  declined  as 
though  they  were  used  singly. 

He  spoke  to  you  and  me  (not  you  and  I). 

They  are  more  clever  than  you  and  I  (not  you  and  me). 

To  avoid  this  last  error,  complete  the  sentence  by  adding 
mentally  the  verb  which  is  understood. 

They  are  more  clever  than  you  and  I  [are]. 


INDEX 


The  numbers  refer  to   paragraphs. 
I.     SUBJECTS  TREATED. 


Abbreviations,  39,  42. 
Accusative  with  the  infinitive, 

56,   144. 

Active  voice,   129. 
Adjective,    57 ;    demonstrative, 

83 ;     relative,    121  ;     clause, 

38  ;    phrase,  115. 
Adverb,     59 ;      relative,     122 ; 

clause,  60  ;    phrase,  115. 
Alliteration,  258. 
Anapest,  251. 
Antecedent,   152. 
Apostrophe,   189   sq. 
Apposition,  61. 
Arrangement     of    manuscript, 

207  sq. 
Article,   62. 
Assonance,   257. 
Auxiliary  verbs,   63. 

Ballad  stanza,  265. 
Barbarism,  46. 
Blank  verse,  266. 
Brackets,  180. 

Case,  64  ;  nominative,  64  ;  ob- 
jective, 64,  144  ;  possessive, 
65  sq. 

Capitals,   use  of,   23  sq. 

Clause,  72  ;  adjective,  38  ;  ad- 
verbial, 60  :  co-ordinate,  74  ; 
independent,  72 ;  subordi- 
nate, 73. 

Collective  noun,  102. 

Colloquial   usage,   44. 

Colon,   177.  - 

Comma,  156  sq. 

Common  errors,  267  sq. 

Common   noun,   88. 

Comparison,   75. 

Complex   sentence,    76. 

Compound   sentence,    77. 


67 


Conjugation,    94. 
Conjunction,    78 ;     correlative, 

81. 

Co-ordinate,  74,  79. 
Copula,    80 ;     verbs     used     as, 

150. 
Correction  of  manuscript,  211. 

212. 
Correlative  conjunction,   81. 

Dactyl,   252. 

Dangling  participle,  142. 

Dash,   178. 

Declension,  94. 

Demonstrative    adjective,    83 ; 

pronoun,   152. 
Dependent  clause,  73. 
Diction,  43  sq. 
Direct   object,    104. 

Elegiac  stanza,  262. 
Emphasis  in  sentence,  138. 
Exclamation   mark,    184. 

Figures  of  speech,  52  SQ  ; 
simile,  52 ;  metaphor,  53 ; 
mixed  metaphor,  55. 

Gender,  84  sq. 

Gerund,  90 ;  possessive  case 
with,  151. 

Good  usage,  43 ;  general  of- 
fences against,  46  sq. 

Grammatical  terms,  56  sq. 

Heroic  couplet,  261. 
Hyphen,  181  sq. 

Iamb,  250. 
Imperative  mood,  97. 
Impropriety,    47. 
Indefinite  pronoun,  91. 
Independent  clause,   72. 


68 


INDEX 


Indicative  mood,  97. 

Indirect  object,   105. 

Infinitive,  92  ;  present,  147  ; 
past,  148 ;  split,  93 ;  sub- 
ject of,  144 ;  accusative 
with,  56,  144. 

Inflection,  94. 

Interjection,    95. 

Interrogative    pronoun,    96. 

Intransitive  verb,  127. 

Italics,   192. 

Letters,  business  and  friendly, 
213  sq.;  formal  invitations 
and  replies,  240  sq. 

Loose  sentence,  137. 

Metaphor,  53,  54. 

Mixed  metaphor,   55. 

Mood,  97  ;  imperative,  97  ;  in- 
dicative, 97 ;  subjunctive, 
98. 

Nominative  absolute,  99,  141. 

Nominative  case,  64. 

Noun,  100 ;  collective,  102  ; 
common,  101  ;  proper,  100 ; 
phrase,  115. 

Number,  103 ;  irregular  plu- 
rals, 11  sq. 

Object,  104 ;  direct,  104 ;  in- 
direct, 105  ;  object  of  prepo- 
sition, 64 ;  object  of  verb, 
64. 

Objective  case,  64,  144  ;  with 
preposition,  64 ;  with  verb, 
64  ;  subject  of  infinitive,  56, 
144. 

Paragraph,  196  sq. ;  transi- 
tion, 205. 

Parenthesis,   179. 

Part  of  speech,  106. 

Participle,  107 ;  dangling, 
142 ;  present,  145 ;  past, 
146. 

Passive  voice,   154. 

Period,  155. 

Periodic  sentence,  136. 

Personal  pronoun,   108. 

Phrase,  111  ;  adjective,  115 ; 
adverb,  115 ;  noun,  115 ; 
preposition,  113 ;  preposi- 
tional, 114  ;  verb,  112. 


Plurals,   irregular,    11   sq. 
Possessive   case,   65  sq. ;  with 
gerund,    151 ;    of    pronouns, 

Predicate,  116  ;  complete,  116  ; 
simple,  116. 

Preposition,  117  ;  phrase,  113  ; 
ending  sentence  with,  140. 

Prepositional    phrase,    114. 

Principal  parts  of  a  verb,  118. 

Pronoun,  119,  153  ;  demonstra- 
tive, 152 ;  indefinite,  91  ; 
interrogative,  96 ;  personal, 
108  ;  relative,  123,  143. 

Proof-readers'    signs,    211. 

Proper  noun,  100. 

Prosody,  249  sq. ;  verse  deco- 
ration, 254  sq.;  stanza 
forms,  259  sq. 

Punctuation,  130  sq.,  155  sq. 

Question  mark,  184. 
Quotation  marks,   185  sq. 

Relative,  120  ;  adjective,  121 ; 
adverb,  122  ;  pronoun,  123  ; 
restrictive,  171  ;  non-re- 
strictive, 172. 

Rhyme,  254  ;  masculine,  255  ; 
feminine,  256. 

Semicolon,   174. 

Sentence,  124 ;  simple,  124 ; 
complex,  76,  134,  135  ;  com- 
pound, 77,  133 ;  periodic, 
136  ;  loose,  137  ;  matters  of 
punctuation  in,  130  sq. ; 
arrangement  of  thought  in, 
133  sq.;  emphasis  in,  138; 
matters  of  grammar  in, 
143  sq. ;  summary,  199 ; 
topic,  198. 

Simile,  52. 

Slang,  45. 

Solecism,    48. 

Sonnet,  Italian,  263  ;  English, 
264. 

Spelling,   3  sq. 

Split  infinitive,   93. 

Stanza  forms,   259  sq. 

Subject,  125. 

Subjunctive  mood,  98. 

Subordinate  clause,   73. 

Summary   sentence,   199. 

Syllabification,  15  sq. 


INDEX 


69 


Tense,  126. 

Theme  readers'  signs,  212. 
Topic  sentence,  198. 
Transition  paragraph,  205. 
Transitive  verb,  127. 
Trite  expressions,  49. 
Trochee,   249. 

Usage,   good,    43 ;   general   of- 


fences  against,   46  sq.;  col- 
loquial,  44. 

Verb,  128 ;  principal  parts  of, 

118. 

Verb  phrase,  112. 
Verse  decoration,  254  sq. 
Voice,    active,    129 ;    passive, 

129. 


II.    WORDS  SPECIALLY  COMMENTED  ON 

Accept,  267.  Enthuse,  299. 

Affect,  268.  Every,  293. 

Except,  267. 

Exceptional,  300. 

Exceptionable,  300. 

Expect,  301,  336. 


,         . 

Aggravate,  270. 
Allude,  271. 
Alright,  272. 
Anxious,  273. 
Anybody  else's,  274. 
Anyone,  294. 
Apt,  321,  323. 
As  — as,  275. 
Assist  at,  276. 
Avocation,  277. 
Awful,  278. 

Back  of,  279. 

Bad,  badly,  150,  280. 

Calculate,  282. 
Can,  283. 
Combine,  284. 
Complected,  285. 
Continual,  286. 
Continuous,  286. 

Deadly,  287. 
Deathly,  287. 
Demean,  288. 
Differ  from,  289. 
Differ  with,   289. 
Different  than,  290. 
Different  to,  291. 
Don't,  292. 

Each,  293. 
Eager,  273. 
Eclat,  46. 
Effect,  268,  269. 
Either,  294. 
Either  — or,  295. 
Elegant,  296. 
Else,  297. 
Emigrant,   298. 


Farther,  302. 
Feel,  150,  281. 
Firstly,  303. 
Fix,  304. 
Flee,  305. 
Fly,  305. 
Flow,  305. 
Further,  302. 

Gentleman,   306. 
Got,  308. 
Guess,  309. 

Handfuls,  310. 
Hear  to  it,  311. 
Her'n,  46. 
His'n,  46. 
Hung,  312. 

I,  313. 

Immigrant,   298. 
In,  314. 

Individual,  315. 
Invite,  317. 
It's,  318. 

Kind  of  a,  319. 

Lady,  306. 
Lay,  320. 
Lend,  325. 
Liable,  321. 
Lie,  320. 
Like,  324. 
Likely,  322. 
Loan,  325. 
Look,  281. 


70 


INDEX 


Loose,  326. 
Lot,  lots,  327. 

May,  283. 
Menage,  46. 
Mention,  271. 

Neither,  294. 
Neither — •  nor,  295. 
Nice,  328. 
None,    294. 
Nothing  like,   330. 

One,  50. 
Only,  331. 

Propose,  338. 
Party,    332. 
Plenty,  333. 
Posted,  334. 
Practical,    335. 
Practicable,  335. 
Presume,  336. 
Principal,   337. 
Principle,   337. 
Purpose,  338. 

Raise,  339. 
Real,  340. 
Reckon,  341. 


Recollect  of,   342. 
Remember  of,  342. 
Rise,  339. 

Sang,  Sung,  343. 
Seem,   150. 
Set,  350. 
Shall,  346. 
Should,  349. 
Sit,    350. 
So  —  as,  275. 
Sort  of  a,  319. 
Sound,    150. 
Splendid,  351. 
Spoonfuls,    352. 
Stop,    353. 

Team,  354. 

These  kind,  these  sort,  355. 

Very,  356. 
Vocation,  277. 

Ways,  357. 
Will,  346. 
Worse,  358. 
Would,  349. 

You  and  I,  you  and  me,  359. 


STAMPED  BELOW 


AN     INITIAL    FINE     OF     25     CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


8]  •:; 


MAY   17 
JUL  SO  1935 


FEB  26  1936 

1  Feb'SOAP 


30Apr'58LA 


934 


LD  21-50m-8,-32 


YB  02806 


